


Who We Are

by RoseDuchess



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-02-02 06:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 72,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12721365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseDuchess/pseuds/RoseDuchess
Summary: What if Ino was a member of Team 7? How would she try to save Sasuke? Would she still have feelings for him or find another love? Shikaino Naruhina Rated for language and suggestive material in later chapters.





	1. Prologue

He knew she would come.  
In fact, he was surprised she didn't come to stop him when he was still at his house. Hn. Silly girl. It seems like he really did sometimes underestimate her. She was far more stupid than he thought, wandering the streets all alone when there are people who could easily kill her. Silly girl, annoying as always. But still, she was out of Sakura's league when it came to bothering him. She was easier to take, far more mature when you look at her from another angle. She was – to Sasuke's utmost surprise – emotionally stronger than her pink haired friend. The blonde Yamanaka, who seemed so shallow and stupid; was actually the one who didn't live up to his expectations, in a good way. So maybe, he wasn't really that surprised to see her standing there. Ino, who took this as her task,– and he of all people knew how determined she was, even willing to die so her goal can be accomplished, or willing to die trying to accomplish it. Her mission: to bring him home, to make him stay.  
Uchiha Sasuke smiled, lightly, as that thought crossed his mind.  
Ino…if only she knew.  
He stopped in front of her, not even two steps away. She studied his face for a moment, cold as always, so cold that it didn't even bother her. But Sasuke, he was surprised to see her face.  
Ino was at the edge, at the verge of crying, he could tell by the tears that danced in her eyes, tears he could see even in the darkness of the night. She was softly chewing the inside of her lower lip, a habit she did only when they were losing their battle, or when she was too upset from fighting with her pink haired friend, Sakura. Ino…Ino never did that when it came to him, or Naruto, or even their sensei. Her hair wasn't tied in her usual ponytail, which he came to notice just now, when he actually looked at her, it was falling gracefully over her back, a blonde cascade. He couldn't remember the time he saw her without the ponytail, like this was a whole new Ino. He noticed that she wasn't dressed in her usual purple clothes and bandages over her belly. She wore a simple orange shirt and green shorts, the simplest she could find. There was no trace of Ino he saw every day, Ino who cared about her appearance and the way he saw her, the way she presented herself in front of his eyes, this girl he saw here…she was Ino without her mask.  
He saw how she took a deep breath, clutching her fists and shaking her head, before she smiled at him, as warmly as she could, like they were here to say a pleasant goodbye, like he won't be her enemy once he walks out of this village, away from her and memories they shared. She smiled as if she was saying that things between them will never change, whatever he chooses to do, whichever path he goes. He was taken aback by her actions, but managed to hide it, always burying things inside himself, leaving that cold mask of his.  
He – smirk appeared on his lips – had no time for this. She had to know. He had to let her know, he thought as that smirk spread across his face.  
He had to let her know, that once he leaves, nothing will ever be the same.  
“What are you doing here?” his voice asked, ringing through the silence, leaving her expression unchanged. “You came to stop me?”  
Ino smiled, sadly, with bitterness. “„Iie.” she let out, her voice shaking at some points. “I am well aware that nothing I say will ever make you change your mind.”  
Good, he thought, ready to make his way past her when her voice reached him, far more powerful than a second before:  
“You intend to leave…to have your revenge.” she began, her voice holding him down in one place, just forcing him to listen to her until the end. “I know it's none of my business, it's something I learned through the time I spent with you, that you always wanted me to mind my own business and I never listened. But now, I'll listen, and I won't ask you anything about it. It's your choice and you have your reasons, so I am going to respect that. I always should've.” she swallowed, almost choking upon her words. Her gaze grew stronger, seemed more powerful on his face. Again, it turned out he was wrong about her. She didn't come to stop him. She has learned from her mistakes. That girl…  
“Sasuke-kun” she said, shaking her head. “„Iie. Sasuke.” she corrected herself, making his eyes widen slightly, not enough for her to notice, anyway. “I came here to tell you, that, no matter how hard it becomes for me and Naruto, we'll never go awry. We'll fight you, no matter what, for our friends, for Konoha, for you. We'll train. We'll train so hard to become stronger and…once we become stronger, we'll sure bring you back, I promise you that.” Tears began to fall down her cheeks and the moment she noticed them, she immediately wiped them away, as if she'll hide her weakness. Sasuke simply watched her, as if he wasn't in wonder.  
Yamanaka fought with her tears for a while, but managed to get a hold of herself. “Sasuke…I…”she uttered, clearing her throat. Her voice regained its strength. “I believe in you. I always did. I believed…there's a light inside of you, and I swear to you, here, with who I am, that I will bring it back to you. Your light."  
He stared at the small girl who stood before him as if she had just said something so normal, something she said every day. She knew he was emotionless, knew he didn't care what she had to say, but she promised to herself that she was going to say it. It wasn't a gesture to show him her feelings, no; it was something she said to him as her friend, her teammate. Her brother. Ino knew he never liked her, in fact, Ino knew every feeling he ever felt for her was nothing but annoyance and anger. Of course, they were teammates, he was supposed to care for her in a way he did, like a teammate, not friend or anything else. He made it clear in the very beginning, but she was too blind to notice. She was silly, stupid, and yet, she never came to regret her feelings, only her actions that sometimes went over the limit. She wished she could change some things she did now and then, maybe even some things she said, but she didn't wish to change her feelings for this boy who stood before her. For Yamanaka Ino believed that those feelings were exactly what made her stronger.  
Sasuke simply couldn't avert his gaze away from her face. Not because she was crying or anything similar, he was just…he couldn't recall a moment someone said something like that to him. So sincere, so…stupid, he didn't need her silly words or her silly promises. All he wanted was to simply leave, not caring for her or anyone else. He was alone his whole life. He didn't need her or anyone else. He didn't. He just didn't. Not her. Not Naruto, or anyone.  
Hah…light inside him. No. She was talking nonsense, what did she know, anyway? She was just another girl who fancied him, being plainly annoying. This was just a proof. She didn't know him. Not at all…  
He passed her by.  
She stood there, still as a stone, determined not to break. He could feel it, but he didn't care. She sobbed and he knew she was shaking, but he simply didn't care. Sasuke made his way down the street, blocking the memories that simply popped in his head with every step he took. It was because of her stupid words, he assured himself. He tried to assure himself…  
Uchiha Sasuke stopped. At the very end of his path he stopped, staring at the ground.  
She was still there, wasn't crying, but he knew she was there. He could hear her breathing. Shallow. And upset.  
He turned his head to look over his shoulder and saw her standing there. Shaking. Ino…  
“Your loyalty to your…friends, goes that far that you're willing to risk your own life for them?” he asked. Ino stirred for a second, and then turned, swiftly, to face him.  
“Hai, Sasuke.” she nodded, seeming as if she expected something like that from him, such words. She knew that once he leaves he won't ever stop to think twice when it comes to killing her, or anyone else. “I consider you my friend, even if you would never say the same thing for me. Since I consider you a friend, I would fail miserably at fulfilling my role if I wasn't ready for something like that to save you, or anyone else. I would be ashamed…"  
“Nonsense,” he thought, as he turned fully towards her.  
“Then, be ready, I have chosen this path, Ino. There is no light for me. And I would fail miserably,” he said, with mock in his voice. “At fulfilling my destiny if I wouldn't fight any of you who dare to step on my way. It goes for you, and everyone else who dares to do so." He turned his back on her, staring at the way before him. “Do not ever feel special, because I won't spare you. Not you or Naruto."  
“I know,” Ino whispered, knowing he couldn't hear her. But, she was wrong. Sasuke heard her, even though he was far away, still leaving, he heard her; and whispered into the wind, “I hope you'll never know."

Uchiha Sasuke left the village on that same night, leaving everyone behind. Yamanaka Ino spent that night wandering the streets of Konoha, until she found her way home.  
Her eyes shot open in a second, as she sat up, looking at the picture that still rested on her commode even after two and a half years.  
“Sasuke…” fifteen year old Ino Yamanaka whispered into the night.


	2. Ch. 1: Memories and Regret

Chapter 1: Memories and Regrets  
It has been two and a half years since Sasuke had defected from the village. She had trained hard, trained until the day came where she and Naruto had to fight Sasuke to bring him back home. Naruto had taken up the offer with Lord Jiraiya to train with him for the past few years and she hasn’t seen him since then.  
She was just walking around the village and thought about the dream of the memory of that night. “I wonder if we’ll be able to bring him back. It was a big thing to claim, and knowing Sasuke, he won’t come back without a fight,” She then shook her head, trying to reassure herself, she had trained for that day and she was not going to turn back on it. She still cared about him, but as her teammate and friend because she knew that he never cared at all. All he wanted was revenge and power, so she knew that she couldn’t stop him that night even if she tried. She had to admit that it was hard to try to get over that she just let him go, but she had Naruto’s support because he was always a good friend, and she found comfort in her friends, Shikamaru, Chouji and her best friend Sakura.  
Sakura had also needed comforting for Sasuke leaving, because she had also loved Sasuke as well, she still loves him actually. She was upset that Ino didn’t stop Sasuke but she came to understand why she did it. So their bond of friendship had become stronger because of it. Ino even spent some time with Shikamaru and Chouji, because all three knew each other since they were kids. When she was particularly sad, after what had happened, she was surprised that Shikamaru came to her himself to comfort her. He even awkwardly embraced her so that she could cry her heart out until she was finished. After that, she became closer to him and she even trained along with him and Chouji.  
As she mulled these memories of Shikamaru over, she thought, “When I first met him, I thought he was lazy, unmotivated, and such a pain when he deemed things troublesome. But when I look back on it, he can be so sweet when he wants to be. I’m glad that I met him when I needed a friend.” She even recalled a moment where she had to offer him her comfort.  
Flashback (Ino’s POV)  
I had heard about what happened to the Sasuke Retrieval Team from Naruto after I went to see him. He made a promise to bring Sasuke back no matter what because he was our teammate and I appreciated his resolve to save our friend. Then I told him what I told Sasuke last night and he agreed with what I said, that I did what I felt was right.  
Then I asked, “How are the others?”  
He turned to me and replied, “Kiba, Akamaru, Chouji, and Neji were severely injured, but Shikamaru only has a broken finger. From what Shikamaru told me, Chouji and Neji would have been dead if they didn’t treat them in time. I’m really glad that they are alive, I hate to think what would have happened if they didn’t survive.”  
I felt so guilty that my own teammate, my two childhood friends, Kiba, Akamaru and Neji could have been killed because I didn’t stop Sasuke. “Shikamaru seemed really worried when Chouji was in intensive care but he looked like his usual self when he came by,” Naruto added, interrupting her thoughts.  
I winced at that, “Is he okay?” I asked genuinely worried. I saw Naruto shrug his shoulders, “He didn’t show it but I could tell that this mission shook him. Maybe you could talk to him? You knew him when you two were little right? So you probably know him better than I do.” I contemplated that, “Sure, maybe I can help him like he helped me. Where did he say he was going?”  
Naruto answered, “He said he was escorting the sand siblings to the gate to see them off.” I immediately took off after he said where he was. I don’t know what drove me to do it, but I just kept running to where Shikamaru was until I saw him seeing the sand siblings off. “Hey, Shikamaru!” I saw him turn around and he put his hands in his pockets and he said, “Ino, what are you doing here?”  
“I was looking for you when I heard about Chouji’s condition. Could we talk?”  
I saw he looked a bit uncomfortable but he said, “Sure.”  
So we walked to his favorite cloud-watching spot and we sat on the bench. I thought that the silence between us was a bit awkward so I asked, “Are you okay, Shikamaru? I know we haven’t talked in a while but could you tell me if you are okay? And I don’t mean physically.”  
I looked at him and I noticed that he flinched at my question, I was about to ask again when he suddenly said, “I feel horrible. I was put in charge of four people and a dog, and they could have died in this mission. It was my fault that they nearly died, I’m relieved that all of them are alive but that still doesn’t erase my guilt.” I saw he was shaking his fists almost trying to control his emotions, I’ve never seen him so broken in my life, even when we were little.  
“That’s why, the next mission I’m assigned to will be perfect no matter what, because I don’t want anything to happen to my friends. I will be better to protect them, and I’m not running away this time.” Shikamaru added, though I heard his voice faltering almost like he couldn’t hold his emotions anymore.  
I couldn’t help but smile sadly at him, he looked like he needed to vent but he still won’t let his tears flow. Then, something compelled me to envelop him in a hug, I felt him flinch but I offered comforting words to him, “It’s alright Shikamaru; you don’t have to hide your emotions from me. You helped me with my problems, now let me help you, just let it out.”  
At first, I didn’t get a response, but then he hugged me back, burying his face in my neck, quietly crying as his tears ran down my back. I also remember crying with him and we stayed like that until it was nearly evening.  
End Flashback (End Ino’s POV)  
After that experience, the two were close where she would join them on their weekly dinners and train with them. Asuma even gave them new earrings to represent the new Ino-Shika-Cho trio like their fathers were. She smiled because she was glad that she made long lasting friends in them and in Naruto as well. She thought of the blond shinobi she formerly dubbed the “dead-last” who is now one of her closest friends, “I wonder how he is doing.”  
Unbeknownst to her, there were two people who had just entered the village gate, one with long, white hair and is slightly taller. The other wore an orange and black jump suit, had blond hair, expressive blue eyes, and a wide smile. Then he thought to himself, “I’m finally home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does. This is my take on how Ino could be incorporated as a member of Team 7. It follows the original plot but it has my own tweaks. If you don't like it then don't read it.


	3. Ch. 2: Reunion

“Ino-nee chan!” some people called out her name. She turned around and saw Konohamaru and his teammates Moegi and Udon. “Konohamaru, how are you and your friends?” Ino cheerfully asked.  
“We’re fine, only I wish we had a different mission than finding a lost cat,” Konohamaru complained.  
That brought a smile to her face it just brought back memories of her and her team taking on that same mission with Naruto and Sasuke. So to ease the young Genin’s frustration, she replied, “We had that same mission, it is very nostalgic actually. We all complained about it too, but soon after we got a difficult mission that proved to be more difficult than we expected. So don’t worry, your team will get a difficult mission soon. You just have to be patient.”  
Konohamaru smiled up at her and then he asked, “So, what are you doing?”  
“I have to pick up a report for Lady Tsunade, so I’m heading to the gate now. Would you three like to join me?” she asked the young genin.  
All three chimed together, “Sure,”  
So they all walked to the village gate, while two who had just entered the village were unknowingly walking in a different direction than Ino and the others. The younger of the two said, “It has been four years since we have been in Konoha.” While the other replied, “It has hasn’t it?”  
When they reached the gate, Ino asked Kotetsu and Izumo, “Hi Kotestu-senpai and Izumo-senpai, do you have the report for Tsunade?”  
“Yes, we do. By the way, you should look around on your way back to the Hokage Tower.” Kotetsu said. While Izumo added, “You might find something interesting.” They both smiled at the confused Chūnin and three Genin.  
Then Ino suddenly realized what they meant, “Could it be?” She quickly took the report and ran back into the village with the three Genin tailing her.  
While in an area of the village, a young man wearing an orange track suit ran up a pole, happily shouting, “Wow, this place hasn’t changed a bit!” He looked up at the Hokage Monument and noticed that it slightly changed he exclaimed, “Oh, they added Tsunade-baa chan’s face to the Monument. Konoha, hear me now, Naruto Uzumaki has returned!”  
Ino had been running until she saw Naruto on top of the pole with Lord Jiraiya at the base of it. She called out to him, “Naruto, is that you?” Naruto noticed her and came down instantly to greet her. “Hey Ino, it’s been a long time.”  
She replied, “Yeah, it has.” Then she was looking him over and said, “Hey Naruto, I think you are taller than me now.”  
“Really?” Naruto said as he was comparing their heights. “I guess you’re right,” he added happily.  
“He’s grown so much, it’s kind of hard to believe,” Ino thought to herself. While she asked out loud, “So do you think I look more mature now?”  
Naruto then replied, “Don’t worry I think you have grown a lot but you are still the same to me.”  
Ino was a bit unnerved that he said that but she silently thought, “Oh well, I guess I should have expected that from him, but I know he means well.”  
“Naruto-nii chan!” Konohamaru shouted happily and he did a new “Sexy” Jutsu to Naruto and asked,” What do you think?” when he dispelled it. Ino was a bit disturbed by it but she was a bit surprised when he started to chuckle.  
“Konohamaru, I’m older now and I don’t do that kind of jutsu anymore. You must learn different jutsus than that.” Naruto told the younger Genin.  
Ino was impressed, “He must have grown up while he was training. I’ve never seen him so serious.” But that impression was shattered when he suddenly exclaimed, “So now I’m going to show you a new Sexy jutsu that you’ll be impressed by.”  
That ticked her off and she punched him in the stomach but not before shouting, “You idiot! I was about to praise you and you come up with another one of your stupid jutsus!”  
She kept on shouting at him to grow up while he held his stomach in pain and silently noted, “It was just as I thought, Ino is the same as she always was but at least she doesn’t hit too hard.”  
Then she, Naruto and Lord Jiraiya went up to the Hokage Tower to report to Lady Tsunade. They went in her office where she greeted Naruto, “Welcome home, Naruto.” Then she turned to Jiraiya and said, “I take it that his training went well, Jiraiya?”  
“Of course, it did. What do you think I haven’t helped him improve?” Jiraiya asked acting offended.  
“That’s good, I would like to put Naruto’s skills to the test, you will be fighting an opponent that hasn’t been on missions lately so you’ll display how much stronger you have gotten against him,” she said just as they heard a knock on the door.  
“Come in,” Tsunade said. Then a lazy voice drawled, “Hey.”  
There was a young man of about sixteen with black hair tied in a ponytail, brown narrow eyes, and a lazy expression on his face. He was wearing a green flak jacket with a black shirt with matching black pants. Next to him, was a young woman who had her blond hair tied in four ponytails, a black forehead protector, and wore a black dress with a red sash. On her back, she had a big fan strapped to her.  
Ino and Naruto turned around to them and Ino called out to them, “Hey Shikamaru, Temari-san, can you two guess who this is?” She pointed to Naruto as she asked them which made Shikamaru look at him curiously.  
“Naruto? Hey, it is Naruto isn’t it?” he said with a smirk.  
Naruto smiled and exclaimed, “Shikamaru.”  
“It’s been a long time, when did you get back?” Shikamaru asked his friend.  
“Just a while ago,” Naruto explained.  
Shikamaru looked him over before saying, “There is something different about you, and did you grow up or something?”  
“No, he is the same as before,” Ino pointed out Naruto’s lack of maturity.  
“Oh, just as I thought,” Shikamaru said in a somewhat teasing voice.  
“Ino,” Naruto said in an exasperated voice. Until he suddenly said, “So wait, is Shikamaru my opponent?”  
“What are you talking about? I’m just here to report to Lady Tsunade with this lady accompanying me,” Shikamaru explained as he gestured towards Temari with his eyes.  
Naruto looked over at her but got a look of confusion on his face before asking, “Who are you again?”  
Temari retorted, “You don’t remember me?” She sounded like she was a bit offended.  
“Naruto, Shikamaru isn’t your opponent. Your opponent is out there.” Tsunade interrupted while pointing out the window.  
Naruto went towards the window, opened it, and heard a voice say, “It’s been a while, you have grown.”  
“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto exclaimed happily. He jumped on the roof of the building to greet his teacher and said to him, “It’s great to see you again, Sensei. You haven’t changed much at all. Oh, that’s right, I have something for you.”  
Naruto pulled something out of his back pouch and held it out to him which made Kakashi exclaim, “What?! This is… is”  
The item that was in Naruto’s hand, turned out to be a copy of Icha Icha Paradise, which made Naruto say, “It’s a new book that is the first publication of the Icha Icha Paradise in four years. It’s boring, but you like that kind of book don’t you Sensei?”  
Kakashi had been excited to read it until Tsunade said, “Okay, enough fooling around, Kakashi.”  
So he closed the book and came to the window and said to Ino, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you as well Ino.”  
“Yeah, it has Sensei,” she replied.  
“So Kakashi-sensei is my opponent,” Naruto spoke out.  
But Kakashi replied, “Well, not exactly. I will be fighting both of you, Naruto and Ino.” He gestured to the both of them. He continued, “You will fight against me and I shall test how much the both of you have grown these past two and a half years. We will meet in training ground seven but since you must be tired Naruto, I’ll give you time to rest up. See ya.”  
With that, he just disappeared in a puff of smoke. “I wonder why he went away so quickly,” Ino said sarcastically, not expecting an answer.  
“He’s going to read that book,” Shikamaru replied.  
Ino turned to look at him, which Shikamaru turned away from her quickly, but then he said, “As if we all didn’t know that, Ino,” He had a little smirk on his lips as he directly gave that smirk in her direction.  
Ino giggled to herself, “He always knew how to make me laugh.”  
Later on, Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru and Temari had walked out of the Hokage Tower while Naruto complained, “He really hasn’t changed at all, and I’m not even tired. Couldn’t he have just read that book later?”  
Ino answered back sympathetically, “Well, you know that’s how he is, Naruto. Don’t complain too much.”  
Naruto sighed, “Yeah, I know.” Until he looked at how Shikamaru and Temari were behind them then he asked impishly, “Hey Shikamaru, are you two on a date?’ he didn’t notice that Ino flinched when he asked.  
Lately, she was puzzled about her sudden peeve of Shikamaru being in a relationship with Temari. Personally, Ino respects Temari as a strong and capable kunoichi, but she suddenly gets angry if she had to follow Shikamaru around.  
“It’s not like that,” Shikamaru answered. This made Ino sigh out in relief, although she had no idea why.  
“Hmph, like I would ever go out with someone like him,” Temari said in response to that. Somehow, Ino seemed to be offended for Shikamaru, “What’s wrong with going out with him? Shikamaru is a good guy.”  
Ino was brought out of her thoughts when Temari continued, “The Chūnin exams are coming up and I’m acting as the Sand Ambassador which takes me to and from Suna and Konoha.”  
Shikamaru added, “It’s troublesome, but I’m acting as a proctor for the exam and I have to be this lady’s escort.”  
“The Chūnin exams, huh? That brings back memories,” Naruto reflected.  
“Oh, that’s right. What are you going to do, Naruto?” Shikamaru asked him.  
“About what?’ Naruto asked, confused about the question.  
“What do you mean what? It’s about the Chūnin exam, you are the only one in our age group who isn’t a Chūnin,” Shikamaru explained.  
Naruto had a blank look on his face before he shouted, “What??!” He looked over at Ino and asked, “Then, you are a Chūnin too, Ino?”  
Ino smiled and said, “Yes, I am.”  
Shikamaru also added, “Not only that, but Neji, Kankuro and this lady are Jonin now.” He pointed to Temari to prove his point.  
Then Naruto suddenly asked, “What about Gaara?”  
Meanwhile in Suna, a messenger came out to a balcony to call to someone standing out there, “Kazekage-sama, the meeting is about to start.”  
The one standing on the balcony had auburn hair, green eyes with black rings around them, and a tattoo with the kanji for love on his forehead and was wearing a white cloak. He merely replied quietly, “I’ll be there shortly.”  
Back in Konoha, when Naruto heard about Gaara’s new title he suddenly became quiet. But then he exclaimed, “Just wait Gaara, just as you have become Kazekage, I’ll become a great Hokage soon. Just watch me.”  
Shikamaru smirked, Temari smiled, and Ino looked at her teammate with admiration, commenting in her thoughts, “Maybe you have grown up a bit, Naruto.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does. It only has my own tweaks.


	4. Ch. 3: Battles

An hour later, Ino and Naruto met with Kakashi at Training Ground 7 where they were supposed to start their evaluation, so to speak.  
“Training ground 7, this is where we first fought, of course Sasuke was still with us,” Kakashi thought out loud.  
“That’s right; this is the place where we first fought with Kakashi-Sensei,” Ino thought.  
“That was when Sasuke was still in Team 7,” Naruto thought as well.  
Kakashi was still reading his book but when he looked up from it, he saw his two students slumped on the ground, depressed when Sasuke was mentioned.  
Kakashi thought to himself exasperatedly, “Obviously, Sasuke’s name is taboo with these two.”  
He closed his book and put it in his pouch before addressing his two students, “Now that we are here, I will tell you what we will do so I can test you.”  
He pulled out two small silver bells on red string as he continued, “I shall evaluate your skills by issuing the bell test. If both of you can successfully take a bell from me by dawn tomorrow, I can acknowledge that you have gotten stronger.”  
Ino and Naruto looked determinedly at their teacher as they listened to his instructions.  
Then Naruto, as impatient as ever, tried to take a bell from Kakashi before he came up from behind him with a kunai at the base of his neck.  
“Nice try Naruto, but I haven’t said “go” yet.” Kakashi amusedly told him.  
“Don’t be so sure, Sensei,” Naruto smirked up at him.  
Kakashi then felt a presence behind him and looked over his shoulder to see Naruto’s shadow clone with a shuriken at his back.  
“It appears that you have gotten better, well now it’s best that we start. Ready, Go!” Kakashi shouted before disappearing in a puff of smoke.  
“Oh, I could have gotten him already!” Naruto sulked.  
“Well, if you weren’t impatient, we could have caught him when he said to go,” Ino retorted.  
So then they proceeded to try to seek him out in the training ground and they were fully prepared this time.  
Meanwhile in Suna…  
After the meeting with the council, Gaara was in his office filling out paperwork and it all seemed quiet as he looked out the window to look at the sky. He had a contemplative look on his face as he watched a strange bird flying through the air.  
Up above Suna…  
“Well this village is very scenic, a work of art. But my art, is a bang,” a blonde-haired man said silently to himself.  
He put his hand in one of his bags and pulled out some clay figures made to look like spiders and sent them out to the guards that were guarding Gaara. By bang, he really meant it; as the small clay spiders exploded on the guards.  
Then the man landed on the balcony of the Kazekage’s office only to find Gaara waiting for him as if expecting him.  
With a smirk, the young man addressed him, “How did you know I would come after you?”  
Gaara stoically replied, “There are no such birds in this village. State your name and business for taking out my guards.”  
The young man replied, “I’m Deidara of the Akatsuki and I came to capture you for the one-tails.”  
“As long as I’m Kazekage, you will not threaten this village and I won’t go down so easily if you plan to capture me.”  
“Have it your way, Kazekage-sama,” Deidara replied mockingly.  
Then they had engaged in an aerial battle; Gaara on a cloud of sand and Deidara on his clay bird just throwing his bombs at Gaara, trying to make him lose his momentum.  
Outside of the village, a strange figure was watching as the battle was taking place in the sky.  
“Deidara better had not waste my time he knows how I hate waiting,” an eerie voice said to himself.

Back in Konoha…  
Ino and Naruto were very exhausted and it was already late in the night. They had a great start by Ino sensing him out underground and they tried various tactics to get the upper hand but so far they couldn’t get to him.  
“I didn’t think it would be this tough, but he must be exhausted since he used the sharingan a lot. We just need to try to find a way to get those bells, otherwise, we’ll be here until dawn,” Ino said to Naruto.  
Naruto replied, “I know but you know how Kakashi-Sensei is; he is as smart as Shikamaru, has a better sense of smell than Kiba, and just as strong as Chouji.”  
“That’s true but he must have a weakness, so we have to think what that might be,” Ino replied.  
So they sat there trying to figure out their teacher’s weakness until Naruto realized, “Wait, I’ve got it, his weakness.”  
Naruto then whispered to Ino about his plan and Ino honestly exclaimed, “Nothing less from the most unpredictable ninja of Konoha.”  
Then they went out to find Kakashi who was hiding behind a tree with his hitai-ate adjusted to reveal his Sharingan eye.  
He thought to himself, “It’s been quiet; they might be trying to plan a sneak attack on me. They really wore me out that I had to use my Sharingan several times.”  
Then he suddenly heard rustling from behind and he saw as his students came to attack him, he said to them, “That won’t work, you two.”  
But he was taken by surprise when he heard Naruto shout, “Hey Kakashi-Sensei, you know in the Icha Icha Paradise, what really happens in the end is…”  
“No! Spoilers!” Kakashi shouted in his head as he covered his ears to block out Naruto’s voice. But as he watched Naruto, he added, “No, I can still read his lips!”  
To not read his lips, he shut his eyes tightly but then the next thing he knew, his two students were smiling at him, with one bell in their hands, leading him to check that the bells were missing from his waist.  
Wearily, Kakashi admitted defeat by saying, “You got me.”  
He continued while pulling his book out, “I should have just read the whole book beforehand.”  
“You know Kakashi-Sensei, it’s a wonder you like those books at all when I couldn’t even get through the first ten pages,” Naruto said to his bemused teacher.  
Kakashi had a shocked look on his face as he said, “You mean that it was a…”  
“Even though Naruto had never read the whole book, we figured that you would react to just the content of the book. It was a clever trick, don’t you think, Sensei?” Ino asked cheerfully.  
Kakashi had his head slumped but he admitted, “It was clever of Naruto, I’ll give him that.”  
“You two have done well,” a voice said from behind them.  
They all turned around to see Lady Tsunade approaching them. Then she continued, “Do you have anything to say, Kakashi?”  
“They worked well together and they got the bells from me,” Kakashi admitted to her.  
“Then it leads to tell you that since you got the bells from Kakashi and can work well together, you two and Kakashi shall be part of Team Kakashi,” Tsunade explained.  
She continued, “So tomorrow morning, report to the Hokage tower to receive your first mission as Team Kakashi.”  
After that, they had walked together mostly until they split up, Naruto went to get ramen and Ino was at a dango shop, having dango and tea.  
“What are you doing out so late?” a voice said from behind her.  
She looked up to see Shikamaru and she smiled as she retorted, “I could ask you the same thing, it’s half past 11.”  
He shrugged as he sat next to her and replied, “Your mother asked me to look for you because she was worried when you didn’t return home yet. I looked for over two hours until I found you here.”  
“She knows that I can take care of myself, she doesn’t need to worry,” Ino replied.  
“She knows, but she is your mother, she’ll worry anyway,” Shikamaru reasoned.  
Ino finished her dango while she shared some with him and she was about to pay but he insisted that he’ll pay it.  
“You didn’t have to pay for something I ate, Shikamaru,” Ino said to him after they got outside of the shop.  
“I wanted to, so don’t worry about it. I can walk you home or are you okay?” he asked.  
Ino looked at Shikamaru while thinking of his offer, and then she answered, “Okay, you can walk me home.”  
So they set out to Ino’s house at the flower shop, they were just walking and she did most of the talking of how they tricked Kakashi to get the bells. That earned a little chuckle from Shikamaru while he added his own thoughts in their conversation until they reached her house.  
“Well, thanks for walking me home and… wait,” Ino paused.  
She continued, “You were out for two hours looking for me? If I know you and I do, you would have been asleep by now.”  
Shikamaru was a little unnerved by her reasoning and he had a light blush on his cheeks.  
Ino then asked, “Shikamaru, were you looking for me because you were worried about me?”  
Shikamaru’s face grew redder as he scratched the back of his neck when he mumbled, “Can’t a guy be concerned for one of his best friends?”  
Ino smiled at him and before she knew what she was doing, she looked at him saying, “Shika?”  
“What?” he asked.  
As an answer, she cupped his face with one hand and she kissed his left cheek and whispered in his ear, “Thanks for worrying about me. Good night, Shika.”  
She then quickly went inside her house so that he wouldn’t see her red face, thinking to herself, “I don’t even know why I did that, but it felt nice.” She had a small smile on her face as she went to her room.  
Unknowingly to Ino, Shikamaru was just as red, stunned about what just happened. He touched where she kissed him and subconsciously had this smile on his face. He looked to see that she got in her room okay and he silently said, “Good night, Ino,” before going home himself.  
In Suna, things were looking bleak,  
Gaara had just been using the last of his strength to move the sand barrier he created to protect the village from one of Deidara’s bombs away from the village so it wouldn’t get damaged. When he successfully moved the sand, he slipped into unconsciousness and was falling to the ground.   
Kankurou shouted, “Gaara!” as he watched his little brother fall but then was surprised that Deidara caught him and was taking him out of the village.  
Kankurou, getting upset, he took off after them while Baki was shouting; “Don’t do anything rash, Kankurou!”   
“Like I’ll just let them take my brother, I have to get him back!” Kankurou shouted clearly angry as he pursued them.  
Then he reached the village opening but noticed there was something wrong, that it was too quiet as he heard some other shinobi came to join in his pursuit. They went through the crevice only to find many of the patrol were killed but it seemed like one person was alive.   
One shinobi tried to help him but Kankurou shouted, “No, don’t move him!”  
But it was too late, there was an explosive tag on the shinobi and it exploded, causing the walls of the crevice to cave in on them.  
Then Baki and others had gone to help them but were shocked to see the rocks caving in the crevice but then were relieved to see Kankurou emerge from the rubble with two shinobi unconscious.  
“I could only save two, get them medical treatment, I’m going after Gaara!” Kankurou said before he took off to track them.  
As he went into the desert, he saw that Deidara and his partner were covering their tracks but Kankurou looked on the ground and took some of Gaara’s sand that was leaving a trail.   
Determined, he started sprinting after the trail of his brother’s sand saying in his thoughts, “Hang on, Gaara.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto. It just has my own tweaks to it.


	5. Ch. 4: Rescue Mission

The next morning, only two members had shown up on time with their Jounin sensei late as usual.  
“Jeez, doesn’t he even make an effort to get out of bed in the morning?” said an impatient Naruto.  
“Even after two and a half years, he still makes us wait,” Ino agreed.  
Then they saw as their sensei sluggishly walked up to them, unknown to them that he had read his whole book twice in one night.  
Naruto pointed an accusing finger to him, yelling, “You’re late, Sensei!”  
Kakashi waved his hand apologetically to them as he replied, “Sorry, I didn’t get much sleep last night and I was late filling in the new teams and…”  
“Yeah right, I bet you were reading that book all night, Kakashi-Sensei,” Ino retaliated.  
Kakashi replied, “Well, anyway I’m here now and we should get our mission. Then we…”  
He paused as he looked overhead; up in the sky he watched as a messenger hawk flew by, flying towards the Hokage Tower.  
“That looked like it was flying from Suna, I wonder what happened,” Kakashi thought to himself.  
At the Hokage Tower where they keep the messenger birds, they saw Suna’s fastest messenger hawk, Takamaru on the railing with a message on his back.  
They immediately took the message off of his back and released the seal on it.  
“This is a coded message, we need someone from the cryptology department,” someone told the other to get a decoder in there.  
Inside the Hokage Tower, we find Team Kakashi headed in to be briefed on their mission, while Naruto exclaimed, “It’s been so long since I’ve been on a mission, I wonder if we get a high-rank mission like B-class.”  
“Don’t get your hopes up Naruto, you just returned home. Just please don’t sulk if it isn’t one you were hoping for,” Ino replied.  
Then, a woman ahead of them ran past them shouting, “Out of my way!” as she ran down the hall.  
“I wonder what happened if a decoder was needed here,” Kakashi contemplated silently.  
Then they came into the room to get their mission, as they entered, Tsunade and Iruka were there to hand them their mission briefing.  
Tsunade started by saying, “Team Kakashi, I have a C-rank mission for you to escort some merchants to port and they...”  
But Naruto cut her off by shouting, “Tsunade-baa chan! I don’t want that kind of mission where we just escort merchants. Don’t you have anything better than…OW!”  
Ino had tugged on his ear trying to shut him up, then silently said in his ear, “Naruto, shut up! You don’t know how she can be when she gets angry.”  
“Naruto, we have to do our mission, even if we don’t like it. You know that, don’t you?” Kakashi asked him.  
Grudgingly he replied, “Yes, but still isn’t there any mission that I can prove how strong I’ve gotten? I mean I…”  
Behind them, the door opened with an echoing crash, the same decoder woman they saw earlier shouted, “Tsunade-sama, a secret message from Suna!”  
“What is it that is so important that you interrupt me during a mission briefing?” Tsunade asked, irritated by the interruption.  
The woman answered, “Suna had sent an urgent message, requesting assistance from Konoha. The Fifth Kazekage, Gaara had been kidnapped last night.”  
There was sudden silence at the announcement and Tsunade sat there with her hands in front of her, fingers intertwined.  
Then she addressed Team Kakashi, “Team Kakashi, here is your new mission, go to Suna to help rescue the Kazekage. This is an A-rank mission, do you accept?”  
Team Kakashi answered, “We accept.”  
“Then prepare to leave immediately and I shall have one other person go with you that will benefit from this mission,” Tsunade replied.  
They bowed and departed to prepare for three days travel to Suna.  
Meanwhile in Suna.  
Kankurou had finally caught up with Gaara’s captors and shouted, “Give Gaara back!”  
Then he immediately brought out his puppets out of his scrolls and got into position to fight. Then Deidara and the strange figure turned around to face Kankurou with his three puppets, Black Ant, Crow, and Salamander.  
“Those three, huh?” the eerie voice said more to himself than to his partner.  
Then he continued, “Deidara, go on ahead, I’ll catch up with you.”  
Deidara had an amused smirk on his face and asked, “Are you sure? I know you don’t like to be kept waiting or to keep people waiting.”  
“I’ll make this quick. Just go on ahead.” Deidara’s partner replied.  
“Well, I’ll leave it to you then, hm,” Deidara replied as he got on his clay bird and took off away from the two.  
“I won’t let you get away!” Kankurou shouted.  
He lead Crow to attack Deidara until suddenly, a large scorpion-like tail deflected the attack. Kankurou was surprised that his attack didn’t even faze the other person.  
“I’m your opponent; don’t make me wait for you to attack.” He said as he was waving the tail-like appendage.  
“Fine.” Kankurou replied and got ready to attack.  
Back in Konoha  
Team Kakashi were ready to go, they just had to wait for that one other person. Naruto was getting impatient though, showing his impatience by pacing back and forth.  
“Naruto calm down, it won’t do any good if we rush into things,” Kakashi said to his restless student.  
Then they heard someone shout, “Sorry to keep you waiting.”  
The other person that Tsunade had in mind was her own apprentice, Sakura Haruno. She had a smile on her face and waved to both Ino and Naruto.  
Then Sakura said, “Long time no see Naruto, you really have grown a lot.”  
“No way, you’re coming with us too, Sakura-chan?” Naruto exclaimed happily.  
Sakura nodded then replied, “Yes, Shisou had told me that your team could use one other medic-nin and I can get more experience. I hope you don’t mind me tagging along, Ino.”  
Ino smiled, shook her head and said, “Don’t be silly, of course I don’t mind. This just means I can try to beat you at your own medical skills, Billboard-Brow.”  
Sakura flinched and retorted, “Oh, is that so? Then bring it on, Ino-pig.”  
Ino and Sakura were glaring at each other and they were causing the only males of the group to cringe and step back in fear.  
“So they are still at it, Kakashi-Sensei?” Naruto asked silently.  
Kakashi answered, “Apparently.”  
“Anyway, we better get going before we lose any chance of rescuing the Kazekage from the Akatuski,” Kakashi interrupted the girl’s glaring contest.  
He continued, “But first, I need a word with you Naruto.”  
Naruto nodded but was confused so they went a little distance from the girls and they talked.  
Then Sakura suddenly exclaimed, “Oh right, Ino I have something for you.”  
She pulled out a bento box wrapped in a blue handkerchief out of her pouch and handed it to Ino.  
Confused, she held it in her hands and asked, “You made me a lunch? I know that you are better at making antidote than food, Billboard-Brow.”  
Sakura’s eye twitched before she explained, “I didn’t make it; someone asked me to give it to you.”  
“Really, who was it?” Ino asked.  
“Sorry, it’s a secret, but I can tell he was embarrassed about it.” Sakura playfully replied, winking her eye.  
Ino gave her an annoyed look and gazed down at the bento box, then she saw that underneath the knot, was a little folded note. She took it out and unfolded it to read it and instantly she smiled.  
On the note it said,  
Ino,  
I’m sorry I couldn’t give this to you myself, but I had something to prepare for in the exams this morning. It has your favorite food in it and I hope you like it. Though, I don’t know if it turned out good at all. Good luck in your mission and be careful.  
Shikamaru.  
“He is so sweet,” Ino thought to herself with a big smile.  
She folded the note, put it in her pouch, and carefully put the bento box in her pouch too.  
Then she heard Kakashi say, “Okay, let’s go everyone!”  
They all replied, “Alright!”  
Then they all took off for Suna, but little did they know, Kankurou was in a bad state.

In the desert,  
Kankurou lay on the ground wounded and his puppets damaged; he was only able to secure a piece of cloth from the Akatsuki member’s mask.  
“I have kept Deidara waiting long enough; I won’t kill you right away. You have only three days when the poison flows throughout your system and then you will die anyway.” He said to Kankurou before treading away.  
Kankurou was feeling numb from the poison, blurring his vision and making him feel unbearable pain.  
Slowly, his eyes were drooping as he watched the figure walk away, before losing consciousness, he mumbled, “Gaara…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my tweaks to it.


	6. Ch. 5: Urgency and An Unexpected Ally

Naruto had just took off at a fast pace to try to get where they had to go faster. The ones behind him could tell he used too much chakra to his feet, because he left imprints in the tree bark. They could tell that he was impatient.  
“Naruto, you need to calm down,” Kakashi said to him as he caught up to him.  
“I told you, I have to save Gaara, the Akatuski are going to use him, like they want to use me,” Naruto replied.  
Ino watched her teammate and thought back on her time with him, she recently found out why the villagers hated him before. She felt ashamed that she had treated him just like that only not as bad as the villagers.  
She was snapped out of her thoughts when Naruto asked, “You know too, right Ino and Sakura?”  
Ino and Sakura averted their gazes but they nodded their heads.  
“I thought you two would find out eventually, but we have an unexpected ally on our side. Someone who knows what it’s like to be hated just like Gaara and myself. He really is a good guy once you get to know him.” Naruto replied.  
“What ally, Naruto?” Ino asked confused.  
“A friend of mine, his name is Kurama,” Naruto answered with a slight smile.  
He looked over his shoulder and laughed at their confused faces, so he continued, “It’s better if I let him introduce himself.”  
This just confused them even more as they wondered what Naruto was getting at until they heard him again or rather someone else entirely.  
“He means me,” a gruff voice coming from Naruto answered.  
They watched as Naruto stopped on one tree branch and they stopped as well then Naruto turned around to face them. Only, he didn’t look like himself, his whisker marks are more defined, his teeth grew into fangs and his eyes are red with slit pupils.  
“I’m Kurama, but you all know me as the Kyuubi,” “Naruto” explained.  
Then suddenly, he was met with flying kunais aiming for his head and Kakashi had one to his throat before he could even blink.  
“What is your reason for taking over Naruto’s body? Are you trying to use him?” Kakashi asked accusingly.  
Ino and Sakura were surprised that a tailed beast was talking through their friend, but they had to be cautious of his intentions.  
“Easy Kakashi, you realize that if you try to hurt me, you injure Naruto, right?” Kurama said pointing to the kunai.  
Kakashi lowered his kunai away from Naruto’s throat and put it back in the holster.  
“Kit just wanted me to introduce myself to you and to tell you that I want to help him and everyone against the Akatsuki,” Kurama explained.  
“How do we know you’re not lying and don’t want to get out of Naruto?” Ino asked skeptically.  
“You can use your Mind Transfer justu on him and you’ll see that I’m telling the truth, Ino,” Kurama explained.  
Ino then came over to where he is and then she said, “Shitenshin no Jutsu!”  
Kakashi held up her limp body as Ino was inside Naruto’s subconscious mind, she was in a sewer type environment and she saw Naruto there with Kurama himself, out of his cage.  
“Hey Ino, I told you he’ll help us. He could have taken being let out of the cage to take over me completely but he didn’t,” Naruto explained with a smile.  
Ino looked up in amazement as she had never seen the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit up close before and she never knew how someone as big as Kurama could be sealed in Naruto. She watched as Kurama smirked at her but that was his way of smiling.  
Then he said to her, “See? I was telling the truth, I’d rather help you guys fight the Akatsuki than to be someone’s puppet.”  
“Okay, if Naruto thinks that you’re an ally then, it’s nice to meet you, Kurama,” Ino accepted his friendship.  
Then she exclaimed, “Kai!”  
Then she found herself outside of Naruto’s mind and in her own body again.  
She straightened herself up and confirmed, “Kurama is telling the truth, he will help Naruto and all of us.”  
“Seems that I have misjudged you, Kyuu… no, Kurama. It seems that we have an ally that not even the Akatsuki could suspect,” Kakashi said.  
Kurama smirked and replied, “Now that you know about me, I’ll let you continue on, you all are in a hurry to rescue Gaara right?”  
Then Naruto’s eyes returned to their blue color and the whisker marks have become less defined and then Naruto exclaimed, “Alright! Let’s go!”  
Then they took off again at top speed, while in Suna there was a sense of urgency and tension.  
In Suna,  
Kankurou was in the medical ward, breathing heavily but each breath had been painful to bear for him. The medics had tried all they could to find an antidote for Kankurou but they couldn’t identify the poison used to cause so much damage to him.  
“Who could have done this to him? Damage all of his puppets and poison him with an unknown poison?” Baki asked in thought.  
The medics murmured amongst themselves, confused on how to cure him from an unknown poison. Until they all heard a groan from Kankurou.  
“Kankurou, what is it?” Baki bent down to hear him better as Kankurou whispered to him who did it.  
Softly, he whispered, “It was Sasori of The Red Sand.”  
Baki was shocked; Sasori was a dangerous criminal from their own village, no one has seen him in years.  
Baki let out a stressed sigh and thought to himself, “Well, I guess I should ask her for help.”

Back with Kakashi’s team…  
They had just covered a few more miles until Ino had spotted Temari heading back to Suna. Then they filled her in that Gaara was captured by Akatsuki and they were sent to rescue him from them.  
“Alright, let’s go,” Temari said after they filled her in.  
As they were stepping from tree to tree, they each noticed that Naruto had accelerated himself further away.  
Ino who caught up with him, had tried to console him not to try too hard, he only replied, “It’s always Gaara. He has suffered just as much as me only that he suffered alone the whole time. I need to help him because I can understand that pain he went through, so he won’t be alone again.”  
Temari, who was listening, had a sad look in her eyes as she reflected on her behavior with Gaara before.  
“Before, I never treated Gaara like a little brother; I never even noticed his pain and I’m supposed to be his older sister. But this guy, Naruto went through the same thing and he doesn’t even have siblings. His friends accepted him and his life was a little better. Gaara became a better person because of him and now he is trying to save him. Naruto Uzumaki, thank you.” Temari thought as they kept traveling.  
After reaching the desert, they let Temari lead as she knows the path to Suna better than all of them. After an hour of running, they came across a sandstorm so they had to take shelter in a cave near them.  
Temari explained, “It is best not to travel during a sandstorm so we have to wait it out.”  
So as they waited, Naruto was watching impatiently and Ino brought out her lunch that Shikamaru made her. She couldn’t help but smile widely at this as she opened the box and found her favorite dish. She noticed that he even included her favorite, cherry tomatoes.   
She popped some food in her mouth and she thought, “This is delicious; I never knew he was a good cook.”  
Naruto looked at Ino smiling and being curious he asked, “Did Shikamaru make that lunch for you?”  
Ino had her mouth full, so she nodded as a reply while Naruto chuckled.  
“He really does care about you a lot doesn’t he? Remember we had that mission in the Grass village and he was leading us?” Naruto asked to at least pass the time for the storm to subside.  
Ino swallowed her food and replied, “Vaguely, I had a fever but I didn’t tell either of you as we were going home. I passed out while we were walking, then after that I don’t remember much.”  
Naruto smiled and answered, “Your fever had gotten worse after you fainted and you looked like you couldn’t breathe well. It was going to rain so we had to find shelter in a cave in the forest and we camped in there after we got the fire going. I offered to watch over you for a little bit but he said to me, “Just go to sleep, it’s troublesome but I’ll be fine.” I pretended to go to sleep but I watched as he stayed up the whole night taking care of you.”  
Ino, Sakura and Temari listened intently, as well as Kakashi as he was watching the storm.  
“Was that why he looked so tired the next morning? He stayed up to look after me?” Ino asked herself in awe. She continued, “Oh Shika, he really is a big softie, isn’t he?”  
Still smiling, she finished her lunch and they had camped in there for the night. After the storm had passed it was still dark but it was close to dawn, so they traveled again through the desert running as fast as they can.  
Meanwhile in Suna…  
“Her”, turned out to be the village elder, Elder Chiyo, she was persuaded to help because the infamous Sasori is her grandson. She was in the medical ward, trying to figure out the poison that has Kankurou in so much pain, so far she was unsuccessful.  
“If you need to find an antidote, you should ask The Slug Princess, Tsunade to help. During the Third Shinobi World War, she figured out the antidotes for most of my poisons without even batting an eyelash.” Chiyo suggested.  
Baki replied, “She is Hokage now, she can’t step out at the moment. We received word from her that she sent a team to help rescue Gaara.”  
As they were worrying over Kankurou, Temari and Kakashi’s team had shown up just outside of Suna’s border and the guards had informed Temari about both her brothers.  
“What??! They got Kankurou too?” Temari asked anxiously as she and the team was running to the Medical Ward.  
The guard told her, “He went after Gaara and when we found him he had been poisoned. Elder Chiyo was trying to figure out an antidote but so far we can’t find one.”   
Then Sakura spoke up, “Lead us to him, Ino and I’ll look over him.”  
Ino then said to agree, “Don’t worry; I’m sure we can figure it out.”  
They got to the ward where they were greeted by an old woman attacking Kakashi and she was shouting, “You’ll pay for your crime, White Fang!”  
Then suddenly an old man stopped her before she could attack more and said to her, “Look closely at him, he looks like the White Fang but he isn’t.”  
When Chiyo settled down, Kankurou started writhing in pain and Sakura shouted, “Let us see him!”  
Then they got to work, Sakura and Ino extracted the poison out of Kankurou’s body while Temari and other medics held him down. After the last of poison was extracted, Ino took some samples of the poison for Sakura to examine.  
“We extracted most of the poison; his life is not in danger. But we better find an antidote for the rest of it. Bring the poison, Ino,” Sakura instructed.  
Ino nodded as they were led to the green houses to look for medicinal herbs. Ino had admitted to herself that Sakura was the better medic but she liked to help whenever she could. So she followed Sakura’s instructions and prepared the herbs for the antidote she managed to create. Ino prepared the antidote into a tea and gave it to Kankurou.  
“That’s good, now you just have to rest, Kankurou-san,” Ino told him.  
Then Naruto came up behind her and said, “Ino, you and Sakura were awesome, you learned all that when I was away?”  
Ino smiled brightly and replied, “We weren’t just slacking these past few years, you know.”  
Naruto smiled back and handed her back her pouch and said, “Alright, now we have to recue Gaara.”  
“You’re right but I doubt that we can track them well, especially after that sandstorm.” Kakashi said.  
“I managed to get a piece of his mask, you can track him with this,” Kankurou said weakly as he took the ripped cloth from his puppet’s hand and handed it to Kakashi.  
Kakashi then summoned Pakkun to sniff out the Akatsuki’s trail and he said to them, “Well we better get going now while I have got a scent.”  
“All right! Let’s go!” Naruto exclaimed.  
Then they heard Kankurou say wearily, “Naruto Uzumaki, please save my brother.”  
Naruto smiled and replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll save Gaara, he is my friend after all.”  
Ino smiled at him and she followed Naruto out with Sakura and Kakashi they were supposed to wait for someone to come along with them. Who they got was someone unexpected; to say the least.  
“I suppose I’ll have to come along with all of you,” a voice said from above them.  
They all looked up to see Elder Chiyo on a building railing and she added, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen my cute little grandson.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks to it.


	7. Ch. 6: Doppelgängers and Gaara’s Death

Ino, who watched Elder Chiyo on the building, was surprised when she jumped off the building and landed harmlessly on her feet.  
“Are you sure? It could be dangerous for someone as elderly as you,” Naruto said to her.  
“Don’t take me for a helpless old woman, boy! I still have enough strength left in me to fight. Besides, one of the Akatsuski members is my grandson; you’ll need my help with him.” Elder Chiyo retorted.  
“Well, it’s best if we get going when Pakkun arrives; we need any intel we can get about the two who have abducted Gaara,” Kakashi added.

While they waited for Pakkun, elsewhere in a forest area, the Akatsuki are preparing for the extraction of Shukaku inside a cave, blocked with a boulder with a seal for a barrier.  
Inside, the members of the Akatsuski are on the fingers of a statue with nine eyes that are closed. The two members who had kidnapped Gaara were on two of the fingers of the statue along with other members who were not there physically but through a type of jutsu.  
“It was a lot of trouble getting this Jinchuriki here, hm,” Deidara had complained.  
“Just shut up and prepare yourself, we have to help extract Ichibi from him,” Sasori hissed.  
“Now, everyone prepare yourselves, it will take three days to seal the Ichibi,” a mysterious voice called out.  
Then they started the ritual, a glowing sphere surrounded the unconscious Kazekage and a misty red substance had started to seep out from his eyes and mouth, making him moan in pain. As the substance seeped out of him, it was being absorbed by the statue, making the statue slowly open one of its eyes.   
As they carried on with the sealing process, Pakkun had followed the scent to their location and said to himself, “They’re there huh? I better relay this back to Kakashi, quickly.”  
So he ran off back to Suna, but unbeknownst to him, there was a figure on a tree branch watching as he ran off, slipping into the tree disappearing from sight.  
Meanwhile, in Suna  
Pakkun had just arrived before them and they set off. They had traveled non-stop for at least most of the day. Naruto, unsurprisingly to everyone, except to Elder Chiyo was willing to keep going but Kakashi noticed that Ino and Sakura were tired.  
“We’ll rest here for now, and then we’ll keep going,” Kakashi announced.  
Naruto instantly stopped to turn around and practically yelled, “Kakashi –Sensei! We have to keep going, Gaara is in trouble and we…”  
“I know what you are feeling Naruto, but we have replenish our energy so that we can be in top form when we face an organization like the Akatsuki. Besides, not all of us have stamina like yours Naruto,” Kakashi explained.  
Naruto was upset but he understood, so he complied and rested with everyone else. Ino smiled at him apologetically and thought to herself, “Naruto, don’t be too upset, we will rescue Gaara.” But on her part she wondered if it was only wishful thinking, as she laid down on the ground to rest, the sun setting on the horizon.

Meanwhile in Konoha,  
Tsunade was just before the gates of Konoha briefing a team for a mission.  
“I’m sending you as back-up for Team Kakashi to rescue the Kazekage, proceed with the mission swiftly but cautiously. Do you all understand the mission’s purpose?”  
“We all understand, now let us go and help Team Kakashi out with the power of our youth!” Guy had exclaimed with his protégé at his side saying something similar.  
Tenten and Neji had bemused looks on their faces but they were used to the two of them for years so it didn’t bother them much. So with that, they set out for Suna at an extremely impossible rate. At least Guy and Lee were anyway, Tenten and Neji were following at an equally fast pace anyway.

Back in Suna,   
Team Kakashi had rested for a few hours but then continued on their way to reach Gaara. But unfortunately the element of surprise was not on their side as they ran into trouble on the way.  
“Itachi Uchiha,” Kakashi said as they got into a clearing in the forest.  
In front of them, was the missing nin, the infamous Itachi Uchiha, former ANBU captain and murderer of his clan. He stared them down, with just an intimidating glare.  
Ino thought to herself, “I thought he was Sasuke at first but this is his brother,” She had a determined glare as she looked over at Sakura next to her with equal determination thinking the same thing but Sakura’s resolve seemed stronger.  
“Are you here for Naruto, Itachi? It was your mission to capture him two and a half years ago,” Kakashi questioned the stoic Uchiha.  
“Yes, that is still my mission, but I am merely here to stall your progress to rescue the Kazekage,” Itachi answered, his Sharingan changing into a different pattern, swirling into effect.  
Meanwhile with Team Guy, they had to face another Akatsuki member, Kisame Hoshigaki, Itachi’s partner.  
“Well, it has been a long time,” Kisame said to Guy.   
Guy just stared at him blankly and replied, “Do I know you?”  
Kisame stared back at him and his team thinking to himself, “He doesn’t remember me? How dense is he?”  
He spoke out loud, “I suppose it doesn’t matter, I’m here to prevent you to get to your comrades’ aid.”  
He held his sword out towards them in a battle stance, smiling to show off his pointed teeth.  
“Guy- Sensei, we have to get past him so we can reach Naruto-kun and the others,” Lee silently murmured to him.  
“Yes, my young ward, we shall use the power of our youth to push through this enemy. Prepare yourselves for anything!” Guy shouted to his team.  
They all moved into their battle stances, ready to face against Kisame. Guy and Lee started out with their taijutsu to try to find out his weak points but he only blocked them with his sword. Then Neji came in to try to gain the upper hand but he had no better luck getting an opening. Then Tenten used her weapons scrolls to surround Kisame but he simply used a shot of water to block them.  
“This is getting harder than we thought, Guy-Sensei,” Tenten shouted to her teacher.  
“But this is the only way to reach the others, we’ll just have to keep fighting,” Guy replied.  
Kisame then smiled and shouted, “I won’t let you go any further until you remember me.”  
Then he formed some hand seals and then shouted, “Suiton: Bakusui Shōha!”   
A big wave of water came gushing out of his mouth and it came crashing down on Team Guy, filling the wasteland with water. Then he created water clones and took on each one of Guy’s students, overwhelming them.  
Then he shouted, “Suiton: Suirō no Jutsu!”  
Then the three water clones surrounded the three younger ninjas, each in their own sphere of water, trapping them.  
Guy was distracted momentarily distracted but Kisame snapped him out of his daze and then Guy went back to fighting the Kiri ninja but then Kisame overwhelmed Guy by making him swim underwater and sent a shiver of sharks after him.  
“This is not good; if I can’t get out of this my students will run out of breath. I guess I have no choice but to use that,” Guy thought as he swam away from the sharks.  
Meanwhile with Team Kakashi, they didn’t take too much time to start fighting. At least in Naruto’s mind, there were three Itachis taunting him but he was snapped out of the Genjutsu by Kurama.  
“Naruto, snap out of it, something is not right,” Kurama said in his mind.  
“What do you mean?” Naruto asked.  
Kurama replied, “This guy looks like Itachi and acts like him but don’t you think something is off with him?”  
Naruto tried to see what he meant, but he couldn’t really tell until he suddenly gasped.  
“You’re right; there is a different chakra signature within him,” Naruto said out loud to everyone.  
“What are you talking about Naruto?” Ino asked confused.  
“What Kurama is telling me is that is not Itachi, it’s an imposter made to look like Itachi along with the same chakra signature.” Naruto answered.  
“But isn’t that impossible, no one can copy the same chakra signature from someone else,” Ino replied.  
“Maybe who we are dealing with in the Akatsuki has that ability and we have no knowledge of it,” Kakashi inserted his own suspicion.  
He added, “Imposter or not, he is still using Itachi’s jutsus, so we have to get by him. Naruto make a few shadow clones, I have an idea.”  
Naruto nodded and listened to the plan he was conspiring with Kakashi. Kakashi then ran forward to attack “Itachi” head-on with his own sharingan eye visible.  
Itachi pushed himself back and did hand seals rapidly shouting, “Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!”  
He shot out some big fireballs towards Kakashi as he dodged them as well as he could and he got close enough to attack at him with a kunai. But Itachi slashed through him but Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.   
Then before “Itachi” could react he saw Naruto above him with a big Rasengan, shouting, “Ōdama Rasengan!”  
He crashed it into Itachi and he fell to the ground, making an indent in the ground, defeating him.

With Guy’s team, Guy was still putting up a fight, but the enemy didn’t know what was up Guy’s sleeve as he yelled, “Keimon: Kai!”  
He opened six of the eight gates and the water swirled around him, forming a type of whirlpool and he was speeding towards Kisame and got him out of the water.  
Since he got Kisame out of the water, he proceeded to shout out, “Asa Kujaku!”  
This attack hit Kisame square in the chest and fireballs had shot all around them, making the water evaporate. Also, since he defeated Kisame, the water clones dissolved and the water prisons were gone, setting the others free.  
Pakkun, who was watching came up to them and said, “I’m glad that you are alright Guy, but we have to catch up to Kakashi and the others.  
“Yes, but first maybe we can send this body to Konoha for information,” Guy said as he and his team made their way over to where Kisame landed on the ground.  
But as they got there, Guy and his team looked shocked, because the man who was on the ground was not the one they had been fighting but an unknown ninja, dead.  
With Kakashi and the others, it was the same thing; a different man who wasn’t Itachi had been killed.  
“I knew something was off but I didn’t think it would be this,” Naruto remarked.  
Chiyo interrupted, “I know this man, he was part of the Suna Council but why is he here?”  
“Probably, he was a sleeper agent for years and that was how the patrol around Suna was defeated so quickly,” Kakashi supplied.  
“But why would they send this man to pose as Itachi?” Ino asked.  
“For time, I believe that they will extract the Biju from the Kazekage. They want the tailed beast itself, but to do that they need time to extract it,” Chiyo answered.  
She began writing a message to send to Suna but she continued, “By stalling us, they would use that time to extract the biju from the jinchūriki and once they are finished, it would be too late.”  
Ino was afraid to ask but she had to know why for Naruto’s sake, “Why is that?”  
She finished writing the message and paused to look at her, she simply said, “If the biju is extracted from the Kazekage before we get there, Gaara will die.”  
Ino and Sakura gasped together as they both looked towards Naruto as he had this somber look on his face but he turned away from them and said, “You know, our priority is Gaara right now not me right? I can’t have you two worry about me.”  
“But Naruto, they are after you too, if we show up with you they might try to capture you as well,” Ino retorted with tears in her eyes but haven’t been shed.  
“Right now Gaara is the one who needs our help so we can’t waste time by just standing here debating whether or not I should step foot in their lair if they are after me too. So, I’m going no matter what, I will not let Gaara die,” Naruto made his decision final.  
Kakashi smiled under his mask, and thought to himself, “Sensei, he has grown up just like you wanted him to.”  
“Well, let’s get going now,” Kakashi said to everyone and they took off once again.  
Back at the cave, the Akatsuki had just finished extracting the Ichibi from Gaara, the red chakra stopped flowing from Gaara’s eyes and mouth, then the sphere surrounding him dissipated and he fell to the ground, lifeless.  
Then Zetsu interrupted with, “The rescue team had defeated the body-doubles of Itachi and Kisame; they are just outside the entrance.”  
He added, “I believe that the jinchūriki of the Kyuubi is with them.”  
The leader then responded with, “Deidara, I want you and Sasori to capture him and bring him at our next hideout, tell them about him, Itachi.” Then he disappeared.  
“Itachi, can you describe what this jinchūriki is like?” Sasori questioned.  
Itachi was silent for a moment but then answered, “He is one who screams and charges first.”  
This left both Sasori and Deidara confused but Itachi disappeared without explaining further; leaving them to deal with the teams outside.  
After both teams had finished with the imposters they kept up their trek to get to Gaara until they reached the front of the cave where Pakkun found them.  
“It seems that this is a five way barrier that won’t let us through unless we take all five barrier insignias at the same time,” Kakashi said as they came to Team Guy.  
‘Kakashi you’re late,” Guy said.  
“Sakura-san, Ino-san, and Naruto-kun, it’s nice to see you all!” Lee said to them.  
“Hey!” Naruto said.  
“Naruto,” Neji said to himself as he took in Naruto’s appearance.  
Kakashi then said, “Anyway, we need to find the other four barrier seals. Neji-kun.”  
“Right. Byakugan!” Neji said as the veins around his eyes had become more detailed. He looked around for the other seals, searching for all of them.  
Then he said, “I found them! One is on top of a boulder, about 500 meters northeast of here. The second one is on a tree trunk in a gorge, 350 meters south-southeast. The third one is on a cliffside, 600 meters to the northwest. And the last one is in a forest almost 800 meters southwest of here.”  
After they got the directions, Team Guy had set up wireless radios so they would set out for the other seals, while Kakashi would pull off the main one at the entrance. After they took off, Sakura ran a good distance away from the boulder blocking the exit and got into a stance as if to punch something.  
“Ino, what is Sakura-chan doing?” Naruto asked.  
“Just watch and you’ll see why you should never cross her,” Ino told him while laughing.  
Kakashi had just pulled off the seal as he heard the signal and yelled, “Sakura!”  
“Right!” she shouted as she began sprinting towards the boulder. She yelled out and pulled her arm back and punched the boulder, causing it to crumble and break apart.  
Ino laughed at the flabbergasted expression on Naruto’s face and unknown to her, Kurama inside him shuddered.  
But she focused on what their goal is and went in with her team, Sakura and Elder Chiyo. They all went in through the cave entryway and stopped in their tracks. They saw two Akatsuki members in there alone and saw that Deidara was sitting on Gaara, not breathing, lying perfectly still.  
“So then, I wonder which one is the jinchūriki,” Deidara said to himself and to Sasori.  
All of this did not go well with Naruto, he was shaking, and his eyes turned red, his pupils turned to slits, his whisker marks became more defined.   
His teeth had grown into fangs, as he shouted, “You bastards! I’m gonna fucking kill you!”  
Sasori said eerily, “The one who screams and charges first, is that him?”  
Deidara answered, “That’s what it looks like, hm.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks.


	8. Ch. 7: Three Kunoichis VS Sasori of the Red Sand Part 1

The air was tense; Ino could even sense the anger emanating from Naruto as he shouted, “Gaara, what are you doing? Get up!”  
But Gaara had not moved at all, nor has he responded to Naruto’s voice. Ino watched on in worry for him, because she couldn’t sense Gaara’s chakra signature anymore.  
Naruto shouted again, “Gaara why are you sleeping at a time like this? Get up, Gaar…!”  
“Naruto! That’s enough; even you should know that it’s already too late. Besides, I can’t sense Shukaku in him anymore,” Kurama said in his mind.  
Naruto looked disheartened and he sent a glare towards the pair. Then he shouted, “You give Gaara back!”  
He had pulled out a scroll from his back pouch and summoned a large shuriken and threw it at them. But then it got deflected by Sasori; who didn’t even look in their direction.  
Ino looked surprised as she thought, “No way, he didn’t even bother to look in our direction.”  
“Deidara, you’re making me angry; you already captured your jinchūriki,” Sasori hissed.  
“Well, I’ll be going now, Master Sasori, I’ll leave the others to you,” Deidara said, completely ignoring him.  
Deidara then created a clay bird, jumped on it and flew off with Gaara. This caused Naruto to run off after him, shouting, “You bastard, give Gaara back!”  
“Naruto!” Kakashi shouted.  
Then he told the others, “Naruto and I will take the guy outside, I’ll leave him to you three.”  
“Right, got it,” Ino replied.  
Then Kakashi took off after Naruto to help him. Ino looked over at Sasori and he stared at the three of them intently. This stare caused Ino to have shivers run down her spine  
“This feeling is intense; there is a huge difference in battle experience. I can tell that he has killed so many people,” Ino thought in her head.  
She swallowed hard and it seemed that felt the same terror form Sasori’s stare.  
Then Elder Chiyo said to them, “Ino, Sakura, don’t be afraid. He only has a great deal more experience than you two. That’s why I’m here; I’ll fight him myself.”  
Then Ino and Sakura watched as Elder Chiyo put both of her hands in her sleeves and pulled out kunai, making them float with chakra strings.  
Then she shouted, “Sou Shuu Jin!”  
The kunai were shot towards Sasori, only for him to deflect them with the tail. But she controlled them enough to rip through the robe he was wearing.  
Then they heard him say, “Well, since it’s you I’ll have no choice.”  
The robe fell off his body to reveal, a large face on his back where the tail was twitching from it’s mouth.  
Sasori was on all fours as he hissed, “Will you be added to my collection along with those brats, Grandma Chiyo?”  
Ino was surprised to see such a form and asked, “What is that?”  
“That is not Sasori’s true form,” Chiyo answered with a grim expression on her face.  
Sakura asked with confusion, “What do you mean?”  
Chiyo replied, “That is a puppet; puppet masters have a weakness of close combat since they fight at a distance. That puppet was made to use as an advantage. That puppet is called Hiruko; a person that was previously from our village. I remember it’s mechanisms well.”  
Then Sasori interrupted, “Do you know how I add to my collection? First I tear out the organs. Once I’ve washed it clean, I drain all the blood. After I’ve made sure it won’t decay I fill it with weapons and traps, and make its addition official. Just as Grandma said, Hiruko is part of my collection. And with you two and Grandma Chiyo, I’ll have exactly 301 puppets in my collection! This is my art!”  
Elder Chiyo then had an amused look on her face and said, “Art, huh? Sassori has always been considered a genius of creating puppets. But his real interest was transforming humans into puppets. As I have said, Hiruko was once a shinobi of our village. Sasori turned him into what you see before you. Puppets that have maintained their original form are called human puppets.”  
Sasori positioned himself to attack as Chiyo continued, “Hiruko is a battle-type puppet; we have to separate it from Sasori. Unfortunately, I don’t have the physical strength to smash it. But Sakura has Princess Tsunade’s infamous brute strength. In order for this to work, both of you must dodge his attacks because the attacks have poison in them. When Sakura gets close enough she’ll smash Hiruko. Now lend me your ears both of you.”  
She had taken off her headband and let her hair loose. Then she whispered to both Ino and Sakura as they listened intently.  
Sassori was getting impatient as they finished and he said, “You’re finally ready? You know how I hate to wait.”  
“Relax! Soon we will defeat you!” Chiyo shouted back as she Ino and Sakura dashed towards Sasori.  
Ino and Sakura had kunai in their hands, ready to attack. Sasori ripped off the mask Hiruko was wearing and senbons needles shot out of its mouth. Chiyo, Ino and Sakura had dodged all of them; the result was they had been left without a single scratch.  
Sasori then thought, “Fine, if they dodged that, let’s try this.”  
Then he launched the left arm with wooden poles protruding out of it. It shot off like a bullet and the wooden poles shot out of it as well and split in two, producing more senbon needles laced with poison. Only for them to dodge them as well and senbon needles wasted.  
“They dodged that too? Forget Grandma Chiyo, but these two brats as well?” Sasori thought while thoroughly confused.  
Then as Chiyo and Ino stood back, Sakura rushed forward ready to attack.  
Then Sasori thought, “Why? Grandma Chiyo and the blonde girl have stopped moving. Now this brat is charging in head first. She is underestimating me, her mistake.”  
Sakura threw a kunai at Sasori but he simply deflected it with the tail and had shot it towards Sakura only for the tail to stop an inch from Sakura.  
“What?! It won’t move!”Sasori thought until realization sunk in, “Now I see! Grandma!”  
Chiyo then shouted, “Now Sakura! Crush it!”  
Then Sakura punched Hiruko with all her strength and it was smashed to pieces. As it broke, a cloaked figure jumped out of the way, jumping a good distance away.  
“So you finally come out Sasori,” Chiyo said.  
Ino asked from behind her, “Is that Sasori’s true form?”  
“I’ve come all this way to see my little grandson’s face. It’s been about twenty years since I’ve seen you,” Chiyo continued.  
Ino watched the cloaked figure twitch his fingers causing Hiruko’s head to move which activated another round of senbon needles to be shot out of the head towards Sakura. Chiyo moved her hands at the same time as Sakura dodged the needles.  
“As I thought, just what I’d expect from my Grandma. No wonder those two girls dodged my attacks so easily. You were controlling the two of them with chakra strings so you could make them dodge them. Also, you secretly put some on Hiruko’s tail. But for me not to have noticed until I was unable to move the tail, you must have done it when you first attacked with those kunai. You transferred the chakra strings connected to the kunai onto the tail as I blocked them,” Sasori said but not in the deep raspy voice but a deep clear voice.  
“Impressive, considering that I suppressed the chakra flow to the point of making the threads invisible,” Chiyo praised.  
Sasori replied, “It wasn’t hard. After all, you’re the one who taught me how to play with puppets.”  
Chiyo retorted, “But the games end today.”  
Sasori reached for the cloak over his head and started to pull it off, “That’s the plan, but do you think it will be that simple, Grandma Chiyo?”  
When he pulled off the cloak, he revealed himself to have red hair, half-lidded brown eyes and tan skin but he looked about Ino and Sakura’s age, about fifteen.  
Chiyo was shocked; she exclaimed, “He looks the same, he hasn’t aged at all.”  
Ino thought to herself, “What’s going on? Elder Chiyo said he left the village twenty years ago. How is he so young?”  
Outside of the cave, Deidara was still hovering over them and Naruto was angrier than ever.  
Kakashi thought, “They have begun fighting, I wish I knew what was going on, but…”  
Naruto shouted, “Give Gaara back, you bastard!”  
“Naruto calm down, he only wants to rile you up. If he flies away, chase after him and use the new jutsu you worked on. But you need to get closer,” Kurama explained in his head.  
Naruto calmed down a little but he was still angry enough for it to be not a façade.  
Deidara replied to Naruto, “It’s only a matter of time before Master Sasori defeats the three inside.”  
Then he took off, leaving Naruto to shout, “You son of a bitch, you’re dead!”  
“Naruto stop!” Kakashi shouted.  
“Kakashi-Sensei, Kurama and I have an idea; you take care of Ino and Sakura-chan!”  
Kakashi then ran after Naruto and contacted Guy, “Guy what is happening on your end?”  
With Guy and his team,  
They were each fighting clones of themselves but they were having difficulties.  
He replied, “Sorry Kakashi, I’m having a bit of trouble. Give us more time,”  
Kakashi then thought, “Then we won’t have backup for a while. Ino, Sakura, Elder Chiyo, hold on a bit longer.”  
So as they were chasing after Deidara, Ino, Elder Chiyo and Sakura were up against Sasori’s next puppet. He revealed that the puppet was The Third Kazekage and Chiyo was outraged.  
“That is unforgiveable, you turned the Third Kazekage into a human puppet. You have also attacked the Kazekage Gaara as well that Orochimaru killed Gaara’s father the Fourth Kazekage,” Chiyo said in contempt.  
Sasori calmly stated, “It is true that Orochimaru was my original Akatsuki partner and we have accomplished a lot together but that doesn’t mean I was involved in his schemes.”  
Ino gasped but then her lips formed a frown and then she walked forward, she spoke to him, “You must know a lot about Orochimaru then. My friend and I have a lot of questions for you and you will answer them.”  
She stopped right by Sakura’s side and they both looked fiercely at him  
But he brushed off their glares and replied, “Sorry little girl, I don’t have time to answer questions, not when I have to catch that jinchūriki. So let’s do this.”  
He sent in the Third Kazekage to attack but Chiyo pulled Ino and Sakura away but it was coming up fast with blades and Chiyo defended the both of them with Hiruko’s tail. But then he tried to trap them with hundreds of puppet hands only it didn’t work; Ino and Sakura dodged those too.  
“Then I’ll use my best attacks to kill you two first,” Sasori said with venom.  
“You can try all you want, we will defeat you and you will answer our questions!” Ino shouted.  
In answer to that, Sasori simply attacked them but then both were protected from the attack. Suddenly, they were pulled back behind two figures.  
“A man should listen quietly when a woman speaks to him,” Chiyo said as she held two scrolls with smoke coming from the inside of them.  
“Oh, it’s those two huh?” Sasori asked.  
Chiyo replied, “Yes, these are the very first puppets you had created, The Father and The Mother.”  
The two puppets that protected Ino and Sakura stood together blocking any other attack that may come. One was built to look like a man with red hair and was tall, the other was a woman with long brown hair and a short stature.  
“Are those… Sasori’s parents?” Ino questioned to herself.  
“What do you plan to do with those two? I created them; so I know what they can do and what mechanisms they have. You can’t expect to win, Grandma,” Sasori stated.  
“Maybe not, but I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past and I regret a lot of decisions. But I’m here to correct the one thing I regret most; letting my grandson become a criminal,” Chiyo declared.  
She continued, “Ino, Sakura stay back, I’ll handle him.”  
Ino and Sakura got behind Chiyo and watched as the two puppet masters got ready for battle, wondering who will be victorious in the end.


	9. Ch. 8: Three Kunoichis VS Sasori of the Red Sand Part 2

Sasori and Elder Chiyo stared at the other and then attacks began. The Father and Mother puppets linked their hands where wire had connected the two. Both puppets used the wire between them to cut the arms that Sasori had used before. Then the Third Kazekage disconnected the arm and then made a buzz saw appear out of his left arm. The Father shot out kunai attached to wood and the Mother pulled out a serrated sword then they both countered the attacks. Soon, they were both using the puppets with such fast hand movements that Ino and Sakura watched in amazement. After a few more clashes, they pulled the puppets back, and as a result of their clash, the weapons that all three puppets used were worn down and broken.  
“Your skill with puppets hasn’t changed at all, Grandma,” Sasori admitted.  
He continued, “So let’s see how you deal with this.”  
He made a sign to make the Third’s mouth open and a black grainy substance came floating out.  
Chiyo instantly recognized the substance as she said, “So that puppet can use the Third’s techniques after all.”  
Sasori replied, “It’s been a while since you’ve seen it, right? This was the reason why the Third Kazekage was known as the strongest in the village. You three are about to get messed up.”  
Ino watched the puppet continue to protrude the black substance out of his mouth.  
As she did, she asked Chiyo, “What is that?”  
Chiyo grimly replied, “The most feared weapon in the history of Sunakagure. Iron Sand!”  
Sakura then exclaimed in surprise, “Iron Sand?”  
Chiyo continued, “At one time, it was a technique that Shukaku’s host used. This is a technique that the Third invented himself. He could mold the Iron Sand into various forms, changing it into weapons appropriate to the situation. The Third Kazekage had a unique body that allowed him to change his chakra into a magnetic field. It seems like this puppet can perform the same technique…”  
Confused, Ino asked, “But how can that be? Even though he’s using the Third Kazekage’s body, it’s still just a puppet. How can a puppet have chakra?”  
Chiyo rebutted, “No, human puppets made from real flesh are different from normal puppets like his father and mother. And Sasori is the only one able to make Human Puppets. They’re made to retain the chakra they had when they were still alive. And going by that, he is able to use any techniques they had when they were alive. That’s a Human Puppet’s greatest advenatage.”  
Sasori smirked as he said, “That’s not all. After all, they are part of my beloved collection.”  
Chiyo then said, “Ino, Sakura, you need to get out of here.”  
Ino and Sakura looked at her in shock, and she added, “I’ll fight him by myself. This was unexpected and you two don’t stand a chance against that.”  
Ino argued, “But..!”  
“You’re too slow! Satetsu Shigure!”Sasori shouted.  
The Iron Sand shot out towards them like bullets as Ino and Sakura were pulled out of the way by the mother puppet. The sand hit where Chiyo was but there was dust clouding their view. Then Sasori had a surprised look on his face, as the dust cleared, it was revealed that the Father puppet had used a chakra shield.  
“I see you have upgraded him since he last played with me,” Sasori said to her.  
Chiyo then tried to move the puppet but realized the puppet couldn’t move because of the Iron Sand.  
Sasori added, “You know you have to dodge that technique, not block it. Was getting those two girls out of the way all you could manage? I’ve pumped his body full of Iron Sand. As long as I have the Third’s magnetic powers, he’s useless. This time, I’ll attack all three of you at once. In order to finish you off, I’m going to put it in vorpal mode.”  
Ino watched in surprise as the sand flew up in the air and formed into spikes aimed at both Chiyo and the two of them.  
“You won’t escape again and one puppet can’t protect three people. What will you do, Grandma?” Sasori asked mockingly.  
The spikes shot towards them as Sasori asked, “Who will die first?”  
The spikes struck where they were only for them to be blocked. The mother puppet protected Ino and Sakura, while they looked on in surprise; Chiyo protected herself with her own chakra shield in a puppet arm.  
“So you turned your own body into a puppet, even if it was just one arm. Great puppet masters think alike, I suppose.” Sasori said amusedly.  
Chiyo tried to control her puppet arm as she realized something; she said to herself, “I see, so that’s it.” Then she released the arm off her body.  
“Once Iron Sand gets in, it’s over; you’re out of puppets. What will you do, Grandma Chiyo?” asked Sasori with a mocking smirk.  
“Even if you’re an elite puppet master, without puppets you’re just a regular person,” he added.  
The sand started to form into bigger shapes until finally one was shaped as a rectangle and another a pyramid. While on the Kazekage’s back it formed wings.  
Chiyo then shouted to Ino and Sakura, “Ino, Sakura, you get out of here. I already said that you two can’t fight something like that.”  
Ino thought to herself, “We can’t just leave Elder Chiyo alone in this. But what can we do?”  
She contemplated the situation but then heard this; “Elder Chiyo, please use me.”  
Ino looked up in surprise as she watched Sakura stand in front of Chiyo and she added, “If you use a puppet made of flesh, the Iron Sand won’t have any effect.”  
Chiyo replied, “I only have one arm, so I can’t support you like last time.”  
“It’s fine, I may not have weapons built into me like a puppet, but I have my master’s hatred of losing!” Sakura declared.  
Ino looked at Sakura and how determined she was, she couldn’t help but smile at her and acknowledge how far she has come. She watched as Chiyo connected her chakra strings to Sakura and she stepped behind her as Chiyo told Sakura, “The Third’s powers lie in magnetism; metallic weapons won’t work.”  
Sakura punched her fist unto her hand as she exclaimed, “That sounds good, I also have my master’s hand-to-hand combat skills!”  
Sakura ran forward as one of the weapons headed towards her, but Chiyo made her dodge as the weapon went through the wall of the cave. Another one came on top of her and she dodged that too.  
Then she yelled, “Take this!” as she ran forward and delivered a chakra-enhanced punch to the rectangular weapon towards Sasori and he had to dodge.  
“Bitch,” Sasori muttered.  
“I’m not done yet!” Sakura yelled.  
Soon, with Sakura punching and kicking the weapons each time, the cave was crumbling and the ceiling caved in. Ino watched in amazement as her best friend used her strength to battle.  
“She really has come a long way since she was that unconfident girl in the academy,” Ino thought with admiration.  
But then she got back to focusing on the fight. Then she watched as Sasori put the weapons together and said, “Satetsu Kaihou.”  
The Iron Sand formed into an array of spikes spanning outwards like a web. Ino got worried for Sakura but then watched in shock as the spikes descended upon her and covered the area in spikes. Dust clouded their vision but then Sakura punched out of the rubble but she was covered in scratches and was bleeding. Elder Chiyo had caught her arm under a a rock and couldn’t move Then Sakura’s stance had faltered and she collapsed onto the ground face first, with her body twitching.  
“Impossible, you had poisoned the Iron Sand too?” Chiyo asked in surprise.  
“Yes, she will die in three days if I leave her be, but I don’t plan to!” Sasori exclaimed.  
He sent the Third Kazekage at Sakura but then it suddenly faltered, as if it wasn’t in control but it was still heading towards Sakura. Chiyo looked on in confusion, questioning why Sasori stopped controlling the puppet.  
Then Sasori shouted, “Destroy it now, Sakura!”  
Then Chiyo watched as Sakura had gotten up, and destroyed the puppet to pieces as it came to her. With the Third Kazekage puppet gone, the Iron Sand started to lose its form and dropped harmlessly to the ground as Sakura made her way to Elder Chiyo.  
Sakura lifted the rock of Chiyo and she said, “You can release your technique, Ino.”  
Chiyo looked behind her and saw that Ino was unconscious but then started to stir.  
“That was hasty and reckless of you to use your technique Ino, but I guess it worked,” Sakura scolded.  
Chiyo asked, “Sakura, how can you move and what did you do, Ino?”  
Ino answered, “Sasori isn’t a sensor-type ninja so he wouldn’t be able to tell that I was speaking to Sakura telepathically as she was fighting. I said we needed an opening and before he used that attack, I said I would get into position to use my Mind Transfer jutsu. Then I used my technique to take over Sasori’s body and stopped the puppet’s direct course for Sakura to destroy it.”  
Then Sakura added, “I had used an antidote to nullify the poison, whatever poison gets into my system is broken down into harmless proteins. But this antidote only works for three minutes though.”  
Chiyo asked, “When did you make that?”  
“It was when Ino and I made the antidote for Kankurou-san. She and I made three; one was for Kankurou-san and I put the other two into syringes and brought them with me,” Sakura answered and held out a syringe.  
“This is the last one, so you keep it Elder Chiyo. We need to finish this in three minutes,” Sakura added.  
Ino was healing Elder Chiyo while Sakura was healing her own wounds. Sakura was breathing heavily as she healed herself.  
Ino thought to herself, “With fighting, dodging and healing herself; Sakura must be at her limit. We have to finish this quickly.”  
After Chiyo had been healed, they all got ready to attack Sasori. Sasori had a deadly stare in his eyes as he realized that Sakura had somehow created an antidote and figured out that Ino took over his body.  
“I will acknowledge you, you two are impressive; destroying the Third Kazekage is quite a feat. But will you be prepared for this; I haven’t used this one since I’ve joined the Akatsuki. I wonder how long it has been.” Sasori said to them. He unbuttoned his cloak and it fell to the ground; what was revealed shocked Ino and Sakura.  
Ino then said, “No wonder it seemed that his body felt unnatural when I took control of it.”  
Chiyo grimly added, “He hasn’t aged a bit since he left; he looks like did back then. And now we know why.”  
It was revealed that his body was in fact into a puppet. There was blades protruding from his back, a long wound up metal rope dripping with poison inside the area where his stomach would have been. He stood on the rope looking down at them with a scowl.  
Then he said to them, “It’s really been a while… since I’ve used myself.”  
They stood there, staring at him and he was getting impatient, so he shouted, “If you’re not going to attack, then I’ll make the first move!”  
From his hands, he used weapons to spew out fire, hitting the rocks that they had hid behind.  
“Now what will you do?” Sasori asked menacingly.  
Meanwhile, with Naruto and Kakashi…  
They were still after Deidara, jumping from log to log, Naruto far ahead of Kakashi. When Naruto was close enough, he threw three shuriken in the air at Deidara, jumped into the air, clapped his hands together and yelled, “Fūton: Reppūshō!”  
A powerful gust of wind blew at Deidara, the wind nearly knocked him off the bird and barely dodged the shuriken that were sped up because of the wind. Then Naruto clapped his hands again sent another gust of wind towards Deidara.  
“This kid is not making it easy for me, but we’ll see how they like this,” Deidara gave a smirk before throwing bug-like bombs onto the logs.  
Naruto went past them and then they were following Kakashi. Naruto went far ahead when he heard an explosion, he thought, “Where is Kakashi-sensei?”  
Suddenly, Deidara stopped flying away and was hovering in the air and said to him, “Well, finally I can capture you without inference from Kakashi, hm.”  
Naruto got angry then Deidara added, “Don’t make such a scary face, I’m letting you see your friend again.” The bird opened it’s mouth to show Gaara to Naruto.  
This only made Naruto angrier until Kurama said, “Calm down, he’s only trying to make you angry. Don’t give him that satisfaction; remember to focus, Naruto.”  
Naruto calmed down a bit but was still angry as he yelled, “You bastard! Give Gaara back!”He jumped up but a hand stopped him and held him back.  
“Calm down Nauto, we will get Gaara-kun back,” Kakashi told him.  
“So if you’re calm now, listen closely, I’ll tell you the plan,” Kakashi added.  
Back with Ino and the others they thought they had finished Sasori but he simply put himself back together.  
“Alright then, I’ll finish you off this time,” Chiyo declared, as she got her puppet arm back in place. Then she pulled out a tied up purple scroll and started to untie the string.  
She said, “I forbade myself from using this technique; I didn’t think I would need it again. But I suppose life isn’t that simple. Let’s end this.” She unrolled the scroll and ten puppets materialized out of it, surrounding Chiyo.  
“Grandma Chiyo’s Quissential Ten Fingers or her Shirohigi: Jikki Chikamatsu no Shū technique; I’ve heard the rumors. A puppet master’s ability is only measured by the number of puppets they can use. Impressive, Grandma; I have heard that you conquered a castle with those. But…” Sasori paused.  
He took a small scroll from his back and let it hover in the air. He opened the scroll and had chakra strings come out of his chest as many puppets came out of the scroll. The puppets all hovered above them, nearly blocking their view of the sky.  
Sasori continued, “I used these to conquer an entire nation.” He put his hand to his face as he added, “This is beyond annoying for me. Just how long will I fight with an old hag and two little girls? And to think I even have to use my final puppets. I’ll give you a special showing of my Akahigi: Hyakki no Sōen technique.”  
Sakura ran back to Chiyo and stood in front of her, healing a cut on the side of her waist.  
“Sakura… your antidote isn’t working anymore; don’t fight,” Chiyo advised.  
But Sakura only smiled and exclaimed, “By now, you should understand my personality.”  
Chiyo smiled as she said, “That’s right; you inherited that from Tsunade too. This is the finale, are you prepared Sakura, Ino?!”  
Both Chūnin answered, “Yes!”  
Soon it turned into an all-out battle; Chiyo had effectively destroyed a lot of Sasori’s puppets. Sakura had also fought a good number of puppets as well. Ino managed to protect Chiyo and destroy a few puppets herself, but it was getting hectic as some of Chiyo’s puppets were destroyed too. Soon a puppet snuck up on Chiyo and slashed her arm, and then she used her puppet to move the puppet away from her.  
Then one of her puppets handed Sakura an orb and Chiyo shouted, “Sakura, use that!”  
Sakura held the orb and ran toward Sasori while dodging all of the puppets sent her way. Then with all her strength, she threw orb at Sasori and it grew into a large tiger puppet head. It sunk it’s teeth into Sasori and stuck him to the cave wall. The puppets all stopped moving and Sakura was breathing heavily. Ino was relieved that it was finally over; but then she felt something was wrong.  
Chiyo dropped to her knees and Sakura ran back to her and yelled, “Elder Chiyo, hurry and use the antidote!”  
Then something came up from behind Chiyo wielding a sword and Sakura saw Sasori with killing intent in his eyes. He ran at Chiyo, sword drawn and then made contact…  
Back in Konoha…  
Shikamaru was in front of the Yamanaka Flower shop, just looking at the flowers as he made his way to the Hokage tower. He saw a few daisies, peonies and all kind of flowers on display. His eyes landed on a display of purple bush clovers; the flower symbol of the Yamanaka clan. He reached out his fingers to touch one of the prettier bush clovers, to feel the petals. But when he only touched them slightly, all of the petals fell off at once, causing him to look on in confusion. Suddenly, he felt that something wasn’t right, and it bothered him, like something bad had happened.  
He looked up into the sky and watched the clouds as he murmured to himself the first word that came to his mind, “Ino…”  
Back in the cave, Sasori had made contact with someone but it wasn’t Chiyo. Standing in between Chiyo and Sasori with a sword through her and bleeding, was… Ino.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks to it.


	10. Ch. 9: Chiyo's Sacrifice

Ino stood in front of Chiyo with the sword through her abdomen. Blood had dripped down onto the ground at her feet. She had blood dripping from her mouth as she turned her head to look at Chiyo.  
With a pained expression, she asked, “Elder Chiyo, are you all right?”  
“Ino!” Sakura shouted. She continued to run to help her but stopped when Sasori pushed the sword further into Ino’s abdomen.  
Ino winced in pain as Sasori said, “Hurts doesn’t it? This sword is also poisoned so you can’t move. It’s pointless to keep fighting.”  
Ino was trembling and as she tried to heal herself, she couldn’t control her chakra.  
Ino then turned back to Chiyo and said, “Elder Chiyo, hurry and take the antidote.”  
Chiyo took out the syringe from her sleeve but instead of using it on herself; she injected it into Ino’s leg. Ino and Sakura looked on in shock as she collapsed, breathing heavily.  
Sasori looked at his grandmother, emotionlessly and tried to pull the sword out of Ino but she held on to it, determined to not let go even if he was stronger than her.  
She exclaimed, “I’m not letting go!”  
Sasori thought to himself, “I must admit, she’s a lot tougher than she looks. In that case…”  
Sasori disconnected the fore arm to reveal a small dagger. He stepped back from Ino, ran forward and shouted, “Die!”  
But then, he was stabbed by two swords through the area of the chest with Scorpion written on it. Blood trickled from his mouth as he looked to both sides of him. His Father and Mother puppets held the swords that were pierced through him. It was revealed that Chiyo used her chakra strings to control the puppets and she used a seal to keep him in place.  
“You let your guard down at the very end, Sasori,” Chiyo said.   
Breathing heavily, she continued, “No matter how much of you has become a puppet, you still use chakra which meant you had a living part somewhere. Your only weak point and the only thing that was missing from that empty shell must have been that part. You must have moved it before my technique could take full effect and then you transferred it into another puppet. Your puppet bodies are just that, puppets. Your true form is the part that houses your chakra, that living core in your chest!”  
Ino then collapsed onto the ground, with the sword still in her body.  
Sakura ran to her side and shouted, “Ino!”  
She kneeled down behind her back as Chiyo crawled over in front of Ino.  
Chiyo then ordered, “Sakura, close her wound from behind while I pull the sword out.”  
Sakura nodded and got to work, even if she is at her limit, she will not let her best friend die. Sakura used her healing chakra on the area where the sword stuck out, as Chiyo slowly pulled it out. Ino writhed in pain, trembling as Chiyo pulled the sword out.  
“Bear with me, Ino. It’s almost out,” Chiyo told her calmly.  
Chiyo pulled the sword out and threw it to the side as she helped heal her.  
Sasori then said, “Don’t bother; I stabbed her in a vital point. Even without poison, she’ll be dead in no time; she already lost a lot of blood. You two are medical ninja; you should realize that I aimed for a spot that’s impossible to heal.”  
Sakura turned around and glared at him, while Chiyo simply replied, “I’ve already finished with the first-aid techniques. The technique I’m using now isn’t a simple healing technique.”  
Sasori looked on in confusion as he asked, “What?”  
Chiyo explained, “I’m giving her my life energy itself. It’s a reincarnation technique.”  
Sasori asked in shock, “Reincarnation technique?”  
“This was a technique I originally developed for you; to save your life if you ever needed it. Only I can use it. With this technique, one could even bring a puppet to life. At the cost of one’s own life of course, but I guess that dream can no longer come true.”  
Sasori murmured quietly, “How idiotic, have you gone senile, you old hag?”  
Ino was listening to the whole conversation, and then she slowly lifted herself up.  
Chiyo asked, “Ino, are you all right?”  
Ino answered, “Yes. Are you, Elder Chiyo?”  
Sasori interrupted, “What happened? I thought your reincarnation technique was supposed to kill you, in exchange for breathing life back into someone else.”  
Chiyo explained, “Ino may have been critically injured, but she wasn’t dead. That’s why I was able to survive.”  
Sasori then said, “What a shame.”  
Ino suddenly ran up to him and punched his face, and managed to crack the exterior.  
“I’d stop if I were you; this body feels no pain,” Sasori said.  
Ino glared at him as he added, “Keep hitting me and the only thing you’ll hurt is your hand. You women just love to waste your time doing pointless things. Even if my grandmother, my blood, were to die right now, I’d feel nothing. My heart is as my body; she’d just be one more of the hundreds, the thousands, of others that I’ve killed. Things are much simpler that way.”  
Ino retorted angrily, “Don’t you understand what a life is?! What family is?!”  
Sasori asked emotionlessly, “Hey, is that really something a shinobi should say?”  
Then Ino asked furiously, “Why? Why is that the only way you can look at the world?!”  
Chiyo interrupted, “That’s enough, Ino.”  
Ino protested, “But…”  
Chiyo explained, “Sasori was made into what he is by the twisted, misguided teachings of Sunagakure.”  
Then Sasori said, “Why don’t you try having a body like mine? Maybe then you’ll understand; a body that never decays, unbound by mortality. As a puppet, I can repair and recreate myself as often as I need. If I need other people around, I can just make them into more puppets if I think they’re worthy. A collection isn’t just about numbers; quality is more important than quantity.”  
Ino continued to glare at him as she asked, “What the hell are you?”  
Sasori answered, “If I had to choose, I’d say I’m a human who couldn’t completely become a puppet, I guess. I exist as a puppet, but an incomplete one with a living human core. Not a person but not a puppet either. I’ll be dead soon.”  
He paused, then added, “Before I go, I guess I’ll do something pointless too. Consider it a reward for beating me.”  
Ino and Sakura looked surprised as he asked, “You wanted to know about Orochimaru, right?”  
Ino and Sakura listened intently as he directed them, “In ten days’ time, go to the Bridge of Heaven and Earth in Kusagakure at noon.”  
Ino asked, “What’s there?”  
Then Sasori answered, his voice slowly becoming quieter, “I’ve got a spy working as one of Orochimaru’s subordinates. We were supposed to… rendezvous… there… ”  
Then as he stopped talking, the Father and Mother puppets fell forward along with him, his headband at his head, giving the three kunoichi assurance that he is in fact dead this time.  
Ino said, “It’s over Elder Chiyo, I knew you could do it.”  
Chiyo shook her head, “No, I’m the one who should’ve been killed. Sasori saw through my last attack, but for some reason, he didn’t try to dodge. He left himself open.”  
Sakura asked, “You don’t think he…”  
Chiyo didn’t answer as she looked at her grandson one last time as she lifted herself to stand. They were walking slowly to get their bearings but Chiyo collapsed, her breathing labored. Ino and Sakura went to her side and healed where she was injured. Sakura looked at Ino and the both thought the same thing; they needed to help Chiyo with the poison.  
Sakura suggested, “Elder Chiyo, let’s get back to Sunagakure, Ino and I can make you an antidote. Then we can…”  
Chiyo cut her off, “No, there is something important… I still have to do.”  
Ino looked at her worriedly and thought, “What could be so important that she would push herself?”  
Meanwhile with Kakashi and Naruto, Kakashi had gathered up enough chakra and his Sharingan had changed into a different pattern.   
Kakashi turned to Naruto and instructed him, “Naruto, keep back a bit.”  
Naruto nodded and replied, “Got it.”  
Then he pulled back as Kakashi pressed forward. He caught up to Deidara a bit before saying, “Mangekyou Sharingan!”  
Kakashi focused on Deidara and a vortex had appeared, surrounding Deidara as it tried to suck him in. Since Deidara was moving, it was hard to get a good target on him. As a result, he missed the first time, but he tried again and managed to sever his right arm off. Then Deidara flew down on his clay bird into the forest. When Deidara thought he was clear as he descended into the forest, Naruto and a shadow clone created a Rasengan and aimed at him. Deidara dodged it, only to realize that Naruto aimed for the bird’s head and broke it off.  
Naruto yelled, “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”, creating two more clones and the three caught the head with Gaara in it.  
They landed on a branch and they breaking the clay bird open in haste, desperately trying to see his friend. Kakashi was on another branch with one of Naruto’s clones helping him. He watched as his student was hoping that his friend was still alive.  
Kakashi sadly murmured, “Naruto…”  
Naruto finally opened the clay bird and saw Gaara still motionless. He shook him, saying, “Hey Gaara, can you hear me? Come on!”  
Gaara didn’t stir; Naruto shut his eyes as he stood back and shouted in despair, “Gaara!”  
Deidara watched him from a distance, saying in his thoughts, “I thought I told you before that he was already dead.”  
Naruto stood rigid, angrily declaring, “I’ll kick the shit out of you!”  
Deidara replied, “Yeah, yeah. I’ll fight with you again soon.”  
Kakashi then said to him, “You’re letting your guard down.”  
Then Naruto came up from behind Deidara and gave him a hard punch to his jaw, knocking him off the branch.  
Then Kakashi added, “I warned you that you shouldn’t let your guard down!”  
Then Naruto created four more clones as they all held Deidara to the ground. Then Naruto kneed Deidara in his abdomen and continuously punched him, getting blood on his knuckles. Then he made one more Rasengan and drove it into Deidara only to see that he used a clay replacement. His clones disappeared as Naruto trembled in anger.  
But then in his head, he heard Kurama shout, “Naruto, calm down!”  
He added, “As much as I hate him like you now, it’s pointless to be upset about it. The only thing we can do now is try to at least capture him. For right now, switch with me, I’d like to say something to him.”  
Naruto silently agreed, his anger slipping away only for the air around to be dense with killing intent.   
Kurama took over and shouted to Deidara, “Hey, my vessel would love to pummel you more and before I might’ve taken advantage of his emotions. But you Akatsuki are slowly trapping others of my kind and that is simply unforgiveable for me. Also know this; as long as Naruto is my friend, I’ll help him stop you and make you all pay severely.”  
Then he gave Naruto control again and he shouted, “Fūton: Shinkūha!”  
The wind gusted around him, cutting tree branches away to clear the dense forest.  
Deidara hid in some bushes, thinking in surprise, “Was that the Kyuubi speaking to me just now?”  
Blood trickled from his mouth, he added, “No wonder he punched so hard. Now he is using a wind technique to try to seek me out. I may have underestimated him if he befriended the Kyuubi.”  
He paused, and sensed others coming; it turned out to be Ino, Sakura and Elder Chiyo. Ino and Sakura were holding up Chiyo in her weakened state.  
Ino said, “We finally caught up.”  
Naruto turned and called out, “Ino, Sakura-chan, did you finish the other guy off?” Ino nodded as Kakashi came down to them as well.  
Chiyo asked solemnly, “What happened to Gaara?”  
Naruto flinched but he didn’t answer as he looked up to where two of his clones were holding Gaara. Chiyo grimly added, “Alright.”  
Deidara looked on in shock as he realized that Sasori was dead. But then he thought, “At least, he was able to die in an artistic way.”  
He crawled out of the bushes he was hiding in only to be caught by Team Guy.  
“Good work, Neji,” Guy complimented.  
Neji smirked as he replied, “No problem.”  
Deidara then said, “I see, that must be the Byakugan that differs from the Sharingan; I’ve never seen it in person. As much as I would love to see how they are different from Itachi’s Sharingan, I must make my escape.”  
Guy then declared, “With Konoha’s strongest platoon, Team Guy, on your tail, there is no escape!”  
Then Deidara quickly fled, with Team Guy running after him. He kept running until he found the body of his clay bird that fell from before. Then he pulled some clay from the bird with his teeth and chewed it.  
Then when he was finished chewing, he said to all of them, “I’ll show you my ultimate creation.”  
He swallowed the clay and then his body slowly started to fill out like a balloon.  
Neji saw what he was trying to do and shouted, “Everyone get away!”  
They all started to run as Deidara yelled, “Art is a blast!”  
Then his body burst in a huge explosion, burning close to the others. But then a vortex appeared, sucking in the explosion. As it disappeared, Kakashi fell back and was breathing heavily.  
Ino asked in shock, “Kakashi-Sensei, what did you do?”  
Kakashi replied, “I warped the blast into another dimension.”  
Ino looked at her teacher surprised as he asked, “Is everyone all right?”  
They all nodded and the two Naruto clones brought Gaara down with them. One of them looked to Ino and pleaded, “Ino…”  
Ino nodded at his unspoken plea while Chiyo looked at Gaara with a grim expression. They all moved away from the forest and Gaara was placed on the ground in a clearing. Ino was checking Gaara over while Naruto and the others watched.  
Naruto quietly asked, “Ino?”  
Ino looked down at Gaara and sadly shook her head. She stood up and a few spaces away as she looked at her distraught teammate, trembling and biting his lip.  
He asked out loud, “Why? Why did Gaara have to die like this?”  
Tears started to fall from his eyes as he added, speaking to Gaara, “You’re the Kazekage, damn it! You just became the Kazekage!”  
Chiyo said to him, “Calm yourself, Naruto Uzumaki.”  
He shouted angrily, “Shut the hell up!” He turned as the tears flowed non-stop from his eyes and he glared at Chiyo.  
He continued, “It’s your fault! If you God damned Sand shinobi hadn’t put Shukaku inside him, none of this would’ve happened! Do you have any idea what kind of burden he carried?! Damn the Jinchūriki. You have no right to act like you’re better, to label us and use us…”  
He paused to wipe his tears on his sleeve then continued, “Maybe it’s different now that I befriended Kurama, but I still felt the way Gaara did. I couldn’t save Sasuke, I couldn’t save Gaara… I trained for three years with Kurama’s help and nothing has changed.”  
He silently sobbed but then stopped as he watched Chiyo walk to Gaara, kneeling beside him and started her technique on him.  
Ino looked on in shock and protested, “Elder Chiyo that technique will…” She only turned her head and weakly smiled in reply.  
Naruto asked, “What are you doing?!”  
Ino held him back as she answered, “Elder Chiyo is bringing Gaara-kun back to life.”  
Shocked, Naruto asked, “Can she actually do that?”  
Sakura explained, “This is a technique that only Elder Chiyo knows.”  
Chiyo was faltering, her chakra flow was low and she said, “I don’t have enough chakra left.” Then Naruto came up on the other side of Gaara and held his hands out.  
“Please use my chakra! Then you can do the technique right, Granny?” he asked while holding his hands out.  
She replied wearily, “Place your hands on top of mine.”  
Naruto placed his hands on Chiyo’s and expelled his chakra out, mixing with Chiyo’s.  
Chiyo watched him as he used his chakra to help and said while smiling, “I’m happy someone like you has appeared in the shinobi world we foolish old people created. Everything I’ve ever done was a mistake, but now, at the end, it looks like I’ll finally be able to do the right thing. Sunagakure and Konoha… Their future will be much different than the way things were back in my day.”  
She paused to look up in the sky and continued, “That strange power of yours that Kakashi mentioned… That power will have a strong influence on the future. Become a Hokage like nonw before you. And Ino…”  
Ino asked, “Yes?”  
Chiyo replied, “Next time, save the people who are important and dear to you, not some old hag. You and I are a lot alike; you’ll be a strong kunoichi in the future. There aren’t many girls as chivalrous as you and Sakura around. Also Sakura, you will surpass your master as a kunoichi. And Naruto, this is a request from an old woman. You are the only one who can understand Gaara’s pain and Gaara understands your pain. Please save Gaara.”  
Chiyo slowly breathed her last breath and Gaara began to stir. He sat up and turned to Naruto, who had his hand on his shoulder.  
Naruto said with relief, “Gaara.”  
Gaara looked up at him and quietly thought, “Naruto…”  
He looked around him and found that he was surrounded by several Sand shinobi, including his older sister and brother. The people around him were all happy to see him alive and well.  
Naruto explained, “They all ran here to come save you.  
“Gaara-sama! Are you okay?!” a girl named Matsuri asked.  
Gaara only nodded and everyone cheered, happy that he was safe. Then Matsuri and another girl were fussing Gaara while Temari tried to keep them away from her brother, they even pushed Naruto out of the way.  
Kankurou came to his side to cheer him up, “The girls who drool over the cool elite types are always the weakest ones. That’s how it goes.”  
Naruto replied, “I think Shikamaru told me something like that once too.”  
Kankurou smiled and said, “Thank you, Naruto.”  
Naruto objected, “You should thank the old lady over there, not me.”  
He looked over at Elder Chiyo, who was motionless, as he said, “She saved Gaara with some kinda amazing medical ninjutsu. She’s passed out now, but she’ll come around when we get back to the village-”  
“No, you’re wrong,” Kankurou cut him off.  
“I’m wrong, about what?” Naruto asked in confusion.  
Kankurou explained, “It wasn’t medical ninjutsu. It was a life-transferring technique, Elder Chiyo is dead.”  
“Wh-What do you mean?” Naruto asked.  
Kankurou continued, “It’s a ninjustu that allows you to bring back the dead, in exchange for your own life. Many years ago, the Puppet Brigades were conducting research on how to bring their puppets to life; Elder Chiyo was in charge of it. They were able to figure out the theory behind it, but… In the midst of their research, they decided it was too risky. They made it illegal to conduct the research on humans and forbade anyone to use the technique.”  
Naruto stood up, dumbfounded that Elder Chiyo gave her life to save Gaara and he sadly looked at Chiyo as he recalled her last words to him. Ino and Sakura both held her as tears flowed from their eyes, with Chiyo’s brother there as well.  
He says, “Her face looks so peaceful that I keep thinking that she’s going to burst out laughing.”  
Then Temari snapped Naruto out of his stupor by saying, “Naruto, you really are strange person; you have the power to change people. Elder Chiyo was always saying that she didn’t care what happened to the Village. She wasn’t the type of person who would do this for Gaara.”  
Kakashi added, “Elder Chiyo has placed the future in yours and Gaara’s hands. A splendid end, befitting a shinobi.”  
Naruto nodded and replied, “Just like the Third.”  
Kakashi confirmed, “That’s right.”  
Naruto added, “I really understand how she felt now.”  
Gaara then struggled to stand up but then Naruto helped him stand and he requested, “Everyone, pray for Elder Chiyo.”  
With that said, everyone closed their eyes and bowed their heads in respect for Elder Chiyo, a brave soul who at the very end, died for Sunagakure and the Kazekage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks to it.


	11. Ch. 10: New Teammate, New Mission

After Gaara was brought back to life, Team Kakashi and Team Guy and The Sand Siblings brought Gaara home. When they arrived, many people were there to welcome their Kazekage back home. Shinobi and civilians alike were cheering, relieved that Gaara has come home.  
Baki went to greet them, “I’m glad that you’re safe, Gaara.” He added, “I thank you, Naruto Uzumaki.”  
Naruto objected, “I didn’t really do anything.”  
Baki then said, “Everyone has been waiting, please go on.” The people around them had created a path for them to walk through.  
They were going to walk on but Gaara said, “Wait.” He turned his head and requested, “Put her first.”  
Chiyo was in a black body bag, held by four shinobi with her brother, Ino and Sakura walking on the sides. They walked on ahead as the people paid their respect for Elder Chiyo.  
Soon after her funeral, they had to be on their way home. Both teams and the Sand Siblings were outside of the border, sending them off. Naruto was standing in front of Gaara but seemed a bit nervous.  
He said, “Well, this would be the time where we shake hands and depart. But I’m not really good at stuff like this.”  
But then Gaara held out his hand and gave a small smile to him. Naruto felt Gaara’s sand guide his hand to clasp Gaara’s hand, the sand swirling around their joined hands.  
Then as they were walking home, Kakashi and Guy were traveling slowly, Guy was supporting Kakashi. When Guy was getting frustrated that they were going so slow, he threw Kakashi into the air and caught him on his back, giving Kakashi a piggy-back ride.  
This action grossed everyone out except Lee who asked, “I see, you’re training right?”  
Then Guy shouted as he ran ahead of them, “All of you, let’s see if you can keep up with me!”  
So then, to follow his Sensei’s example, he put his backpack on backwards and bent over and said, “Neji.”  
Neji outright refused by shouting, “Oh, hell no!”  
So they followed Guy home, trying to keep up with him even if some of them were tired.  
Elsewhere…  
Zetsu was with a masked man who found Deidara’s right arm.  
Then Deidara appeared and demanded, “Let go of my hand, you little shit!”  
The masked man shouted, “Oh, you’re alive.”  
Zetsu asked, “Where is the Jinchūriki?”  
Deidara replied, “I already completed my mission and I had to escape from them.”  
The masked man exclaimed, “My, my, my! You really cut it close, huh, Deidara-san? But you’re okay… Not!”  
Deidara’s patience was wearing thin as he said, “Tobi, hit him three times and even Buddha will get mad. I dare you to say something else; I’ll decide how you die!”  
The masked man who was called “Tobi”, replied, “What’s to decide? You’d just blow me up.”  
Zetsu warned him, “There’s the third time.”  
Deidara got Tobi on the ground and was using his legs to choke him as he yelled, “Suffocation!”

4 days later…  
Teams Kakashi and Guy arrived back in Konoha and were taking Kakashi to the hospital. Meanwhile, Naruto was contemplating something as he watched Ino from behind. He saw where she was hiding her wound with a few bandages wrapped around her stomach.  
Kurama said in his head, “You know that you’re going to have to tell Shikamaru about what happened.”  
“I know, but she asked me not to, what am I supposed to do?” Naruto asked.  
“Remember what he asked of you?” Kurama asked.  
Flashback…  
Shikamaru showed up at Naruto’s apartment that morning and Naruto was about to leave.  
“Shikamaru, what are you doing here?” he asked.  
Shikamaru answered, “I heard from Lady Tsunade that you and your team were going to rescue Gaara.”  
Naruto nodded and said, “That still doesn’t explain why you are here. Was there something that you wanted?”  
Shikamaru replied, “Yes, I wanted to ask you to protect Ino on this mission. If you’re dealing with the Akatsuki; I know they’ll be after you too, Naruto. I want you to protect her but also take care of yourself too.”  
Naruto smiled and replied, “I can’t guarantee that she won’t get hurt on this mission, but I’ll do what I can. After all, she is a dear friend to me.”  
End Flashback…  
“I made the mistake of running off and she nearly died,” Naruto said with guilt.  
“You were upset about Gaara, what’s done is done. So just tell him because it will help ease your conscious,” Kurama replied to him.  
Naruto sighed but agreed, “Okay, I might as well get it over with.”  
He fell a little behind the others before hiding in an alley and created a shadow clone. The Shadow clone went with the others to the hospital while he went to find Shikamaru.  
He was running to where Shikamaru might be but then saw a person turning a corner, heading towards him. He was surprised and he couldn’t stop himself when he bumped into the person, effectively knocking them both to the ground. Naruto lifted his head, opened his eyes and looked into a pair of lavender orbs. For a moment, he was mesmerized until he really looked at the person he fell on top of. It was a girl with long dark blue hair, wearing a bulky lavender jacket, blue pants and her forehead protector was around her neck.  
The girl whispered, “N-Naruto-kun?”  
He instantly recognized her as he whispered, “Hinata…”  
Then he realized the type of position they were in and immediately pushed himself off of her.  
With a blush on his face, he embarrassedly tried to explain, “I… I’m so sorry, Hinata. I was in a hurry, and I didn’t stop myself and…”  
Hinata sat up and cut him off, “N-No, it’s okay.”  
Naruto took a breath and asked, “Are you alright? I didn’t hurt you did I?”  
Hinata shook her head and replied, “N-No, you didn’t; I’m fine.”  
Naruto sighed in relief and then held his hand out to her, she took it and Naruto helped her stand up.  
There was a silence until Hinata stuttered, “It’s n-nice to see y-you again, Naruto-kun.”  
Naruto smiled and replied, “Yeah, it’s nice to see you too, Hinata.”  
He looked her over and pointed out, “Hey Hinata, you grew your hair out.”  
Hinata replied while pulling on a strand of her hair, “Yes. I-I have been training f-for so long that I didn’t really notice, so I let it grow out.”  
Naruto then said, “Well, I think it looks nice.”  
Hinata looked surprised and then asked, “R-Really?”  
Naruto nodded and added, “It does, not that your short haircut was bad either but I like it; it suits you.”  
Hinata then blushed a bright red but she smiled and replied, “Thank you Naruto-kun, you have grown too.”  
Naruto smiled a big smile and exclaimed, “Of course, I’ll be Hokage someday, and you know that.” Hinata nodded and the atmosphere lightened considerably.  
“So where were you going?” Naruto asked curiously.  
“I was supposed to meet my team for a mission, so I was heading to where we were supposed to meet up,” Hinata answered.  
Then Naruto had an idea, “Hey, do you want me to walk with you over there?”  
Hinata protested, “Naruto-kun, you don’t have to and besides aren’t you going the other way?”  
“I don’t mind, it’s the least I can do for knocking you down. Also, I would like to talk with you more, Hinata. I know we’re friends but I feel like I don’t know you well enough. So tell me more about yourself and what you have been up to since I’ve been gone,” Naruto requested.  
Hinata smiled and replied, “Okay.”  
So they walked at a slow pace to where Hinata needed to be. They talked about a lot of things; Hinata’s favorite things to do, her favorite food, her family, her teammates’ progress and her training. While Naruto told her of the many things he’s done, the places he’s been to and what he has been training in, he even introduced her to Kurama. Hinata felt happy that she was speaking with Naruto and didn’t stutter at all. She wasn’t even afraid of Kurama, who she calls “Kurama-san”. Naruto felt comfortable talking with Hinata. He learned a lot of things about her and he was feeling happy.  
Until they reached a large tree, Naruto spotted two boys; one had a dark green hooded jacket, black pants and wore black goggles. The other had a black leather jacket with black pants with a big, white dog by his side.  
Naruto called out to them, “Hey Kiba, Shino, Akamaru!”  
All three turned to them and they greeted Naruto with “Hi” or “It’s been a long time.”  
Naruto chatted with them for a few minutes before he remembered what he was going to do. He said, “Oh that’s right, I still have something to do. I have to go but good luck on your mission you guys.”  
With that said, they waved goodbye to him as he ran off to his intended destination. As he walked forward; he saw Shikamaru up ahead, looking over the plans of the Chūnin exams.  
Naruto called out to him nervously, “Hey Shikamaru.”  
Shikamaru looked up at him and said with a smirk on his face, “Naruto, you’re back. I take it that the mission was successful?”  
“Yeah, it was…” Naruto agreed but trailed off to look away from him.  
Shikamaru saw his nervousness and asked, “Are you okay? Is there something you want to tell me?”  
Naruto breathed a weary sigh until he answered, “There is something I want to tell you…” He paused then he said, “It’s about Ino.”  
Shikamaru noticeably stiffened but then his eyes had a hard stare in them as he asked, “What happened?”  
Then when he and Shikamaru were in private, Naruto told him of how the mission went; that he only saw Ino’s injury but Sakura told of how she got it and how she almost died. That if it hadn’t been for Sakura and Elder Chiyo; she might not have made it.  
Meanwhile with Ino…  
She was at home after her talk with Lady Tsunade about the information Sasori gave her about his spy. Since Kakashi will be out for a few days, they would need a new team..  
When “Naruto”, was listening in, he surprised Ino by saying that he won’t be coming with them. Instead, he felt that he should prepare himself to be ready to face Sasuke when the time came. He asked Lady Tsunade that he be allowed to participate in the Chūnin Exams.  
“He really surprised me that we may find something about Sasuke but he opted to stay instead,” Ino thought as she was inspecting her wound.  
There was a scar that had formed a layer of skin to heal naturally, with a similar scar on her back. She had only covered it with bandages to make sure that it wouldn’t get infected; she and Sakura were too drained from the mission that she let it heal by itself. The flower shop was closed because her father was on his own mission and she was about to leave to meet with Sakura who will replace Naruto and two new members for Team Kakashi to meet them for another mission that day.  
Then from the entryway she heard, “Ino.”  
She turned quickly to find Shikamaru at the entrance, with a hard serious look in his eyes, his usual lazy demeanor not showing. She instantly covered the scar as he walked inside staring at her intently.  
“Shika, I thought you had to work on the Chūnin Exams. What are you doing here?” she nervously asked while covering up her scar.  
He got close enough to where he was a few inches away from her before he asked “Let me see your wound, Ino.”  
She looked down at the ground while still covering her scar with her hands. She tried not to look into his eyes as she asked, “Who told you?”  
He answered, “Naruto. He felt that I should know what happened.”  
“I told him not to tell you,” Ino sighed in defeat.  
After a silent pause, Shikamaru asked, “Ino, don’t you trust me?”  
Ino shook her head and explained, “It’s not that I don’t trust you Shika. It’s just… I didn’t want you to worry about me.”  
Shikamaru muttered quietly, “Ino, I’d still worry about you even if you didn’t tell me anything. If I could choose, I would be there with you to help you and protect you.”  
Ino looked at him in mild surprise and then he added, “I may not show it all the time Ino, but I do care about you and your safety.”  
“Shika…” Ino whispered.  
He placed his hand on her shoulder and asked her gently, “Ino, please show me your wound; I’ll at least have peace of mind. It would’ve been troublesome if it kept nagging me at the back of my mind.”  
Ino was still a bit hesitant but she slowly removed her hands from her stomach and kept them at her sides. Ino looked up at him briefly to see a pained expression; she tried to explain, “Please don’t overthink this, it was to protect Elder Chiyo and it was all I could think of…”  
She suddenly froze; she felt his fingers run over her scar. Her face turned bright pink, as she felt his rough fingertips almost caress her scar with a gentleness not usually associated with him. She involuntarily shivered as he glided his hand to her back to do the same to the other scar. Then she was suddenly pulled against him in a gentle embrace; she didn’t know what to make of it.  
“Shi…Shika?” she asked in confusion.  
He muttered, “Ino, you could have died; it was lucky that you had two others there with you. Please be more careful, Ino.” He tightened his embrace, continuing, “Naruto told me he was taking the Chūnin Exam and he won’t go on this next mission with you. So please don’t do anything reckless if you do find any leads on Orochimaru or on Sasuke. I don’t want to lose someone important to me.”  
Ino somehow felt her heart flutter at his sincerity; she smiled as she returned the embrace.  
“Shikamaru, you don’t have to worry about me. I promise I’ll be more careful and I promise I won’t hide my injuries from you.”  
He pulled away and gave her a small smile and she gave a bigger one right back at him.  
“Oh by the way, thank you for the lunch you made me. I didn’t think someone as lazy as you could even put in the effort,” she playfully poked his cheek as she giggled.  
He retorted with a smirk, “Yeah well, don’t expect it too often; I rarely have motivation for it.”  
She laughed whole-heartedly and replied, “That’s true; I always would have to push you all the time to even train.” She smiled again and then said, “When I get back, I’ll make you lunch next time.”  
Shikamaru half-smiled before placing his hand on her shoulder again and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Just come home safe; that’s all I ask.”  
Then he did something she never thought he’d do; he placed a kiss on her forehead. Ino blushed once again, almost forgetting to breathe.  
His lips lingered for a minute and then he pulled away whispering, “I’ll see you soon.”  
He turned away and walked out of the shop; leaving Ino stunned as she didn’t notice the pink blush on Shikamaru’s cheeks. Ino placed her fingers on her forehead, confused at her friend’s intimate gesture that made her heart pound.  
She asked herself, “What did he do that for? And why did my heart beat so rapidly that I couldn’t breathe?” But then she slowly smiled and thought, “But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t like it.”  
For now, she had to meet up with Sakura to meet the new teammates for Team Kakashi. When Ino got to where Sakura was, she wondered, “Are we the only ones here?”  
Sakura answered, “We’re just early, they’ll probably be here soon and we’ll…”  
She trailed off as she felt someone’s presence behind her and that Ino stared at someone behind Sakura as well.  
A boy appeared before them; he had black hair that hung over his forehead protector, a black shirt that exposed his navel and black pants, he also had a tanto strapped to his back.  
But what was most strange about him was his fake smile as he said, “Hello.”  
Ino didn’t know who he was, but she had a feeling that it wouldn’t be pleasant to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks to it.


	12. Ch. 11: Teammate Troubles

Ino didn’t know what to make of this strange boy with the fake smile. He was giving her a weird feeling; like he has no idea how to act around other people.   
He just kept smiling until someone came up from behind and made himself known, “You two must be here for our mission.”  
Ino and Sakura looked over to the man who spoke, he had a regular Jounin outfit, he had brown hair, black eyes and his forehead protector was connected, to a metal plate that framed his face.  
“Who are you?” Ino asked first.  
The man answered, “I’m called Yamato; I’m here to fill in for Kakashi-Senpai on his team as Captain.”  
Sakura asked, “So we call you, Yamato-Taichou?”  
Yamato nodded and then he added, “Since the three of us will be traveling, there wouldn’t be any time to get to know each other, so introduce yourselves.”  
Ino looked over at the boy and uneasily introduced herself, “I’m Ino Yamanaka.”  
Sakura followed with, “And I’m Sakura Haruno.”  
Then the boy put on the fake smile and replied, “I’m Sai.”  
“Well now that we got that out of the way, we’ll briefly talk of our objective; capturing Sasori’s spy at The Tenchikyou Bridge. Since I believe that Naruto Uzumaki is not attending this mission, we won’t have to be worried of them possibly capturing him. But we hope to capture this spy as he may have information on Orochimaru and Sasuke.” Yamato paused briefly before adding, “All three of you, we meet at the main gate in an hour; pack all that is necessary for you on the mission.”  
They nodded and then they dispersed, Sai going a different while Ino and Sakura walked the other way together.  
“What do you think of the replacement for Sasuke-kun?” Sakura asked suddenly.  
Ino thought it over and answered, “I don’t know what to think of him, he seemed off somehow; like he’s never interacted with people his own age. He really seems strange to me.”  
Sakura nodded her head in agreement and then said, “But don’t you think that he looks a bit like Sasuke-kun; in his appearance and his voice?”  
Ino thought it over and then answered, “Yeah, he does look a bit like him but I do know that he’s not him.”  
Sakura then said, “Yeah and besides, Sasuke-kun is a bit cooler than him.”  
Ino smiled sadly as she agreed with Sakura. So they went their separate ways to prepare for their mission.  
Elsewhere in the village, Sai is packing supplies in his bag. Then he picks up a small book and gazed down at it. It had a picture of himself as a child on the front; he seemed to be lost in thought until he took his tanto out to strike someone who suddenly appeared behind him.  
“Nice move; never let your guard down,” a man with an Anbu mask and cloak said.  
Sai nodded and asked, “What is it you want, Senpai?”  
The man handed an envelope too Sai and he took it from him and opened it. When he saw the contents, he seemed a bit surprised but not much.  
“The top secret mission given to you by Danzou-sama is…” but then he suddenly threw his kunai out the window, startling a cat.  
He continued, “Anyway, Danzou-sama’s vision for the future rests upon this secret mission. Failure will not be tolerated.”  
Sai replied, “I know.”  
The man nodded and then turned his attention to the book on the table.  
He asked, “Are you carrying that around?”  
Sai looked down at the book and murmured, “This is…”  
Then the man said, “In Root…” Sai turned back to the man.  
He continued, “You have no name. You have no emotions.”  
Sai added in monotone, “You have no past, you have no future; there is only the mission.”  
Then the man said, “That is the purpose of Root. We exist in the underground, unseen, supporting the great tree we call Konoha; don’t even forget that.”  
Then the man disappeared in a puff of smoke as Sai said to himself, “Right.”  
After their hour, all three had shown up at the gates. Ino and Sakura both glanced over at Sai with unease.  
Yamato made sure everyone was there before turning around and saying, “Alright everyone, let’s go!”  
So they went on their way down the path. As they were walking down the path, Ino observed Sai at the corner of her eye.  
“Looks like him… Maybe he does look a bit like Sasuke a little,” Ino thought.  
Sai noticed her and asked, “Is something wrong?”  
Ino didn’t answer but only thought, “He sounds like Sasuke too.”  
“Please don’t look at me like that, or I’ll attack you,” Sai said to her.  
Now that really set her off; she retorted, “And what makes you think that you can?!”  
Then she thought, “He’s nothing like Sasuke!”  
Sakura looked between the two of them and stood close Ino to make sure that she wouldn’t do anything rash.  
Sai replied, “I have no ill intentions.” Ino looked at him skeptically and then he added, “I was hoping for such a situation.”  
Sakura asked, “Situation?”  
Ino then accused, “Then you do have ill intentions!”  
Sai merely walked ahead and then she added, “You’re not an acceptable replacement after all.”  
Sai then turned around to look at her; there was a small, tense silence.  
Then Ino glared at him and said, “At first, I didn’t know what to think of you, but I’m starting to really not like you at all.”  
Yamato intervened, “You can’t just ignore the team’s well-being and say that, Ino! Kakashi-san must have taught you as well as Naruto of the importance of teamwork and trusting your teammates. You are a member of the great Kakashi-san’s team. So why are you making things difficult?”  
Ino retaliated, “This guy isn’t a member of Team Kakashi! Even if Naruto is not right now; he would agree that he is just a replacement. The last member of Team Kakashi is…Sasuke Uchiha. I simply won’t accept him.”  
Then Sai put on a smirk and said, “That’s fine with me; that puts me at ease me at well.”   
Ino was surprised that he actually didn’t argue against it.  
Then Sai added, “Someone who betrayed Konoha and joined Orochimaru, I don’t want to be put into the same group as trash like that.”  
Ino glared at him and stepped forward and growled, “Why you..!”  
But then Sakura blocked Ino to stop her and then said, “It is true that teamwork and cooperation is important. Sai, Ino doesn’t know you very well, so she may sometimes lash out to argue.”  
She paused for a moment, lowering her hand to say, “Sai, please forgive Ino.”  
Ino whispered, “Sakura…”  
Yamato let out a sigh of relief, saying to himself, “At least one of them isn’t hot-headed.”  
Sai replied to Sakura, “Oh, there is nothing to forgive.”  
Sakura then smiled and replied, “Of good, I’m glad.”  
Sai attempted to smile again when he was suddenly punched hard in the jaw by Sakura, as she glared at him with contempt in her eyes. Ino and Yamato both looked at her in shock.  
“You don’t have to forgive me,” Sakura exclaimed with a feral growl.  
She added, “You don’t know anything about Sasuke-kun, you have no right to say those things about him.”  
She clenched her fist as she continued, “If you say another bad thing about Sasuke-kun again, I won’t hold back.”  
Sai wiped the blood coming from his mouth and then replied calmly, “Okay, I won’t say anything bad about him again.” He paused for a second and then added, “But still, a fake smile can be used like that; I’ll remember that.”  
Ino lashed out, “You just got punched; what exactly are you saying?”  
Sai replied, “The best way to pass off something bad is with a smile, even if it is a fake smile. That is what I’ve read anyway; people will get fooled by it. Though, it doesn’t seem to work as well if I do it.”  
Ino glared, whispering, “Why you little bastard!”  
Then Yamato did some hand seals and murmured, “Shichuurou no Jutsu!”  
Then quite suddenly, a wooden cage had appeared from the ground behind Yamato, while the others had looked on in surprise.  
Yamato said, “You three, we have little time to get to Tenchikyou Bridge, so I have proposal for you. Either you spend all day beating each other up in a cage or we take a little detour to a hot springs town.”  
Both Ino and Sakura had the same question in their heads, “How does Yamato-Taichou know Mokuton techniques?”  
They were brought out of their thoughts when he added, “You don’t know me very well right? I like to lead nicely, but…”  
He paused and then added eerily, “I don’t mind leading by terror either.”  
Ino was somewhat unnerved by the face Yamato made to make him look scary so they decided on the second option. So later on, they went to the hot springs where they had separate bath areas. Ino and Sakura had gone in together and they dipped into the water of the hot spring. Ino admitted that it was really relaxing and it helps with her scar on her abdomen.   
While relaxing in the hot water, her thoughts had drifted back to Shikamaru as she absent-mindedly felt the healing scar where he caressed her gently and of how much he cared. Then she lifted her hand out of the water to her forehead, still feeling his soft lips on her forehead. The small gesture from her childhood friend puzzled her as much as it made her heart pound. She also had thought of how he made her pleasantly shiver from his gentle touch and how well she fit in his embrace. Then her thoughts ran away from her, drifting into thoughts of what it would be like if she kissed his soft lips. But then she shook her head violently to rid herself of the thoughts while a crimson blush formed on her cheeks in embarrassment.  
Sakura saw her best friend shake her head quickly and she noticed her face was red, so she asked, “Do you think you’ve been in the water too long, Ino?”  
Ino had momentarily forgotten that Sakura was with her but she quickly recovered by answering, “Oh yeah, I guess so. I’ll just get out now.”  
So then she grabbed her towel and wrapped it around herself and got out of the water. She went into the changing room to grab her clothes while breathing a sigh of relief. She tied on a robe and went into their room to relax.  
Later on, everyone had gathered into the dining room to find many different dishes of food on the table.  
Ino exclaimed excitedly, “Wow, it all looks delicious!”  
Sakura agreed, “It does look good.”  
Ino asked, “Yamato-Taichou, can we really have all of this?”  
Yamato then nodded and answered, “Yes, don’t hold back.”  
Then they enjoyed their meal and soon they had gone to sleep, since Yamato had said that they would talk about their mission details tomorrow.  
The next morning…  
Sai was seen already up and about with his stuff; he snuck out through the window of the room he was sleeping in. In the other room, Sakura had just woken up; feeling refreshed. She opened a window to breathe in the fresh air but then she noticed Sai outside gathering some supplies from his bag and sat down. Curious, she closed the window and then got changed. When she finished, she snuck out of the room, tiptoeing quietly to not wake Ino up. While with Ino, in her mindscape, she was having a strange yet pleasant dream.  
In the dream,  
Ino was in the flower shop, arranging a beautiful bouquet of white, red and pink roses. When in the dream, a silhouette of a man came up from behind her, wrapped his arms around her and then started to trail kisses from her cheek to her neck. She moaned when the mystery man started to suck on her neck, leaving a small bruise. By the strong grip, she felt that he seemed familiar, like she’s been in his embrace before. While she was enjoying the kisses, she smelled the familiar scent of fresh grass and pine trees. Then her breath hitched as he licked her neck to soothe the bruise and then he felt his hand on her cheek to turn her towards him. Her eyes were lidded, so she didn’t see his face but she was only able to gaze into a pair of chocolate brown eyes, eyes that she’d recognize anywhere.  
She whispered, “Shika…” Then she closed her eyes as he leaned forward.  
Until she slowly woke up from her dream, opening her eyes to find herself in the room. She sat up, stretched her arms above her head and then noticed that Sakura was already up. Then as she got up and got herself ready, she was thinking about the dream she just woke up from. She felt her face go hot as a blush crept up across her cheeks.  
She thought aloud, “Why did I dream of Shika like that? It felt so real; almost like he really was kissing me so sensually. And he almost kissed my lips…” Her face turned redder and then she shook her head to try to not think about it.  
Then she said, “I shouldn’t overthink this, it was only a dream, right?”  
Then she went out of the room where she ran into Yamato and he was talking to her about something. While outside, Sakura was admiring a picture that Sai was drawing. In his sketchbook, the picture was colored with multiple colors in a set pattern of swirls.  
Sakura asked, “What is the title of this picture?”  
Sai paused his hand in response to the question and then Sakura asked, “You don’t know yet?”  
Sai replied, “It’s nothing like that. I have drawn thousands of pictures but they don’t have titles and in truth, I couldn’t give it a title.”  
Sakura then replied, “Well, all pictures have titles and it usually expresses your feelings that you are feeling when you draw them.”  
“I don’t think I could that, feelings are a bit foreign to me; I have no emotions, I feel nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Sai explained in a calm monotone voice.  
“It’s no wonder that you act like a jerk most of the time,” Ino called from behind them. Then she added, “Yamato-Taichou says that it is time to go and he sent me to get you two.”  
Then Sai was packing his things back and Sakura offered to help. She picked up a little book that had a picture of Sai and on the back cover there was a picture of another boy with silver hair.  
Sakura asked, “Did you draw this as well?”  
Sai took the book back from her when she handed it to him and answered, “Yes.”  
“Oh, so it’s a picture book. Could I look at it on our way?” Sakura asked.  
“I can’t allow that; it’s not complete yet. Besides, this was my older brother’s precious treasure,” Sai explained with an expressionless look on his face.  
Ino thought, “Maybe, I can’t get a reading on what he is thinking, but maybe if he carries something like that with him; he can’t be all bad.”  
Then they all left the hot springs town and had walked a good few miles before walking off the path and into the forest to be more cautious. Until they stopped in a clearing, it was already dark and the sky was cloudless.   
Then Yamato weaved hand signs and said, “Mokuton, Hichuuka no Jutsu!”  
Then the ground shook until a fully built house appeared with Yamato sitting on top of it. They all gathered in a room inside all the while admiring the house. Yamato lit a candle wick to illuminate the room as their light source.  
“Now that we are here, I would like to go over the mission details. Ino and Sakura, I want you two to give me any details about Sasori since you two had fought with him. The spy would be expecting Sasori so give me any information you know concerning him. I will go in first to apprehend him. Our objective is to capture the spy, not fight him. So to operate this mission, we’ll use a buddy system.”  
They all nodded and then Yamato continued, “As I’ve said, if it does turn out to be a trap, we won’t have to worry too much if they were after Naruto since he’s not with us.”  
“Of course, we have to assume that the spy will be very careful, since he’s only expecting only one person,” Sai added his observation.  
Yamato agreed and said, “We’ll go into groups of two. Sakura, you’re with me and Ino you’re with Sai.”  
Ino was a little startled about the pairings and then turned her attention to Sai, who was sitting across from her. Ino stared intently at him, while he gave only a blank stare back.  
Ino thought to herself, “I have to work… with him?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks to it.


	13. Ch. 12: Capture Attempt Failed

After a brief moment of tactic planning and disagreement, they had settled for their group pairings. The next morning, Yamato called for a simulation, to be better prepared while on the mission for capturing the spy. Yamato had created a bridge to serve as the Tenchikyou Bridge. Ino was in position with Sai behind a rock while Yamato acted as the spy on the other side of the bridge. Unfortunately, the simulation didn’t end well; Ino ended up tied up to a substitute. At the end of the simulation, Ino was a little more than annoyed; she was absolutely furious.  
“You jerk, why did you leave me tied up?!” Ino shouted in anger.  
Sai had caught the real Yamato and had him tied with his ink. “Kai,” Sai said to release the ink binding Yamato’s wrists.  
Then Ino grabbed the collar of Sai’s shirt and asked angrily, “You didn’t answer me; why did you leave me tied up?”  
Sai answered, “When Yamato-taichou had caught on that the ink clone that I sent in was a decoy, he had hid himself elsewhere before I could capture him.”  
Ino glared at him, “If you knew that was a fake, why did you leave me tied up?”  
“The objective was to capture the spy; I couldn’t have any distractions,” Sai answered.  
Ino kept her hard stare on him as she asked, “Have you ever heard of the word, ‘friend’?”  
Sai pulled out a scroll and a brush and was writing on it, causing Ino to grit her teeth.  
“I said: Have you ever heard of the word, ‘friend’?” Ino asked again.  
Sai held up the scroll and answered, “Yes, I have. What about it?”  
Ino simply gave him a dirty look and released him as she said, “With that attitude, you’ll never make friends. And I won’t accept you as a teammate or a comrade or anything.”  
Ino walked to where her bag was until Sai spoke again, “I wonder what Sasuke-kun would have done in this situation?” Ino stopped walking and stared back at him.  
Sai continued, “Would he have fought while protecting you? After all, you consider him a friend, and a member of Team Kakashi, right?”  
Ino stood there silently as Sakura thought, “This isn’t good, there is no way Ino can hold back now.”  
After a slight pause, Sai added, “That is assuming you can still call someone who betrayed his village and hurt you and Naruto-kun a friend.”  
Ino grit her teeth, and clenched her fists as she looked back at him but then she faced forward and replied, “I’d do anything to save my friends; even team up with jerk like you.” She walked to her pack by a tree and gathered everything up.  
“Ino…” Sakura thought to herself.  
She was brought out of her thoughts when Sai asked, “Why does she care about Sasuke-kun so much?”  
Sakura sighed before she answered, “Well, she cares about Saskue-kun because when we were Genin, she really liked him. But she accepted that he’d never feel the same way about her. So now, she thinks of him as a brother.”  
She paused before adding, “You have a brother right? So you might be able to know how she feels.”  
“Actually, no, not at all. Remember when we were talking about giving titles to my drawings?” Sai asked.  
But then he explained, “I have no emotions.”  
“What do you mean that you don’t have emotions?” Sakura asked confusedly.  
He answered, “It means exactly what it sounds like.”  
Then Sakura retorted, “But you can at least imagine what it’d be like if your brother suddenly disappeared, can’t you?”  
Sai only answered, “I suppose so, yes; my brother’s already dead.”  
Sakura was surprised at his disregard for his brother and replied, “Then how can you…?”  
Sai cut her off, “Maybe I should’ve tried to look like that?” He was watching Ino gathering her pack.  
Sakura looked over at Ino and saw that she was wearing a sad expression on her face.  
Sakura asked, “What are you trying to say?”  
Sai explained, “Well, when my brother died, I wasn’t sure what kind of expression I was supposed to make.”  
“Supposed to make?” Sakura said as she glared at him.  
Yamato clapped his hands and said to them, “Let’s end the conversation there. Gather up your things; we need to get moving.”  
Sai was about to gather his supplies until Sakura stopped him, “Sai, to be honest, I really want to beat the hell out of you right now. I warned you that I wouldn’t hold back if you insulted Sasuke-kun again. The only reason I didn’t do anything… was because Ino said she’d work with you, despite the way you keep insulting Sasuke-kun. So if you’ll help save Sasuke-kun, then I can’t hurt you, regardless of what type of person you are.”  
“Sakura-san, towards Ino-san you are… Yes, you are nice to her. I’ve read about that emotion before. But I have no clue what would make someone feel it,” Sai replied.  
Then Ino called out, “Everyone, let’s go. All of this will be pointless if we don’t make it to the bridge by noon tomorrow.” So then, they went on their way until they set up for the night.  
The next morning they were getting closer to the bridge so they set up with Yamato’s disguise and they got into position. Yamato as Sasori started walking towards the bridge and also searching for any other shinobi for a possible trap. He stops at one end of the bridge and waits a few minutes until he sees a hooded figure at the other side of the bridge. Soon both Yamato and the spy walked towards each other, while a strong wind blew by them.   
They both met at the middle of the bridge and then the spy held his hood and greeted, “It’s good to see you again, Sasori-sama.”  
He turned his head to reveal himself as… Kabuto; Yamato, Ino, and Sakura were all shocked.  
“It’s been five years, hasn’t it?” Kabuto asked.  
“Kabuto Yakushi…” Yamato thought but then he asked out loud, “Were you followed?”  
Kabuto looked behind him and then turned back to answer, “No, we’re fine.”  
To continue the façade, he asked, “How are you holding up?”  
“I still feel a bit shaken from the when your technique was released, and I remembered who I really was. My mind is a bit clouded as well.” Kabuto explained.  
From their positions, Ino asked, “Him, again?”  
Sakura then inputted, “I never would have thought that Kabuto was an Akatsuki spy.”  
With the two on the bridge, Yamato said, “I have some questions for you.”  
“We don’t have much time, so please be brief; I’m risking my life just by being here,” Kabuto explained.  
Yamato asked, “Tell me what you know about his hideouts, and about Sasuke Uchiha.”  
Kabuto answered, “There are multiple hideouts; he switches from one location to the next to keep his whereabouts hidden. Of course, he has them in many countries, not just Sound. Orochimaru’s spies sneak in, set them up, and manage them in his absence. But, he makes use of many different methods to switch locations, so tracking him isn’t easy.”  
Yamato asked, “Where is he now?”  
“Currently, he’s concealed himself on an island in a northern lake, and will move in three days. Sasuke Uchiha is there as well.” Kabuto answered.  
Just when Kabuto was going to ask a question himself, there was a rustling behind him in the forest. So he turned around and then he saw that it was only a rabbit. But within the trees from where Kabuto came from, Orochimaru approached them, getting closer and closer. Then when Yamato was about to capture Kabuto, Orochimaru appeared from behind him with a snake about to wrap around Kabuto. But then Kabuto moved out of the way and got in front of Yamato, facing Orochimaru.  
“Sasori-sama, if you hadn’t pulled out your kunai, I wouldn’t have been able to dodge in time,” Kabuto said.  
“Thanks to that unbelievable coincidence, he had misunderstood what I had intended to do,” Yamato thought.  
Then Orochimaru told him, “Seeing that outfit, it reminds me of the old days, Sasori.”  
Yamato replied, “You followed Kabuto?”  
“Don’t sound so rude, I only wanted to thank you; this child that you sent me was truly a blessing,” Orochimaru replied.  
Then he continued, “When I developed new techniques, I used to go through over a hundred test subject for each one I created. But thanks to this boy’s medical abilities, I was able to use the same subject over and over again. I had been running low on them recently you see.”  
Yamato was thinking things over for their plan and saw that Kabuto had enveloped his hand in chakra for his chakra scalpel. Kabuto lifted his hand in the air and then turned behind and slashed through Yamato’s disguise; shocking Yamato and everyone else. Yamato jumped out of the way and held his arm that had been cut.  
Then Orochimaru shouted, “Sen’ei Tajashu!”  
Several snakes came at Yamato, trying to wrap him up, but all they caught was wooden replica of him.  
“A wood element replacement…?” Orochimaru questioned. Then he smiled sinisterly and said, “Then you must be…”  
With Ino, Sakura and Sai,  
“Sakura, I have an idea and it’s a little bit different than the plan we had… Will you and Sai hear me out?”  
Sakura was a little hesitant but she nodded her head soon afterwards. Then after hearing the plan, Sakura reluctantly agreed as Sai was indifferent with the plan but went along with the new plan just before they saw Yamato’s signal.  
All three of them came out in front of Yamato as Kabuto commented, “Funny, a member of Sasuke-kun’s team and yet Naruto-kun is not here?”  
Orochimaru laughed sinisterly and called up his snakes again and soon, they were battling, trying to dodge Orohimaru’s attacks until one struck Ino across her abdomen only for her to suddenly burst into ink. Orochimaru was a bit surprised until he felt a kunai across his throat, Kabuto being the one holding it.  
Orochimaru was at first shocked but then looked back at the ink blot where “Ino” once stood and grinned.  
“You’re the girl controlling Kabuto’s body aren’t you?” Orochimaru asked “Kabuto”.  
Ino as Kabuto replied, “Don’t try anything Orochimaru, not even you will want to lose a valuable medic like Kabuto. I have him under my control and I can make him come with us quietly.”  
Orochimaru chuckled and then said “Sending in an ink clone to look like you while your real body is in a safe area elsewhere to use your technique. I admit it was a clever plan…”  
His smile grew wider as he added, “But, you didn’t think I wouldn’t know how the Mind Transfer technique works, did you?”  
Then Orochimaru struck out at Ino while she was still in Kabuto’s body and actually managed to cut Kabuto’s arm with a slash of the kunai that he stole out of her hand. Before it got any worse, Ino released her technique and returned to her own body. Then she came out with everyone else, sporting the same cut on her own arm. Then Yamato had suddenly shot wood from his arm to pierce through Orochimaru and then as he had been struck, Sakura ran at him and punched him through the bridge supports to the other side of the bridge, making it shake a bit. Then as Kabuto was still disoriented, she punched him hard in the stomach making him cough up blood.  
Unknown to them, Sai had slipped away from the fight, using a bird that he drew to fly to where Orochimaru was. But Yamato did notice Sai’s disappearance and sent a wood clone after him while he was watching and they only had Kabuto to deal with. Kabuto had taken some time healing himself fixing the damage that Sakura inflicted on him.  
He says, “Well, this was fun but I’m afraid we have to cut it short. Since, you all came instead of Sasori it can only mean that he has died but he couldn’t have told you himself unless you somehow forced it out of him.”  
Kabuto looked behind him to where Orochimaru had landed as he thought, “Orochimaru-sama’s body can’t take much more strain, and I have to get him back to the hideout.”  
He turned back towards the three of them and said, “Despite being enemies, we both have the same goals; we both want the Akatsuki gone. If you had killed one of them, then we’ll let you live, on the condition that you kill more Akatsuki for us.” Then with that, Kabuto disappeared in a puff of smoke.  
Ino grit her teeth in frustration until Yamato spoke up, “It may not be a total loss, I sent a wood clone after Sai, and it seems that Sai has other plans. My clone is watching them now.”  
Ino and Sakura listened to his explanation and Ino asked, “What were they talking about?”  
Yamato answered, “He couldn’t get close enough to hear anything, but he saw Sai hand over something to Orochimaru and Sai was unharmed. Now he is tracking them and we are going to follow him.”  
So after Ino and Yamato were healed, they crossed the bridge to the area where Sai was speaking with Orochimaru only to find Sai’s scrolls and picture book on the ground. Sakura picked up the picture book and his scrolls as she said, “Sai’s things are all over the place, he must have been really tense if he left this book behind too.”  
Sakura turned to Yamato and asked, “Are you sure he wasn’t threatened?”  
Yamato shook his head and replied, “No, it didn’t seem that way, my clone had said that he looked entirely calm the whole time.”  
Then Ino asked, “Then why would Sai do this? He may be a total jerk but he wouldn’t really betray us would he?”  
“Actually, he would. Tsunade-sama had told me before we left to be wary of him, because he was Danzo’s subordinate.” Sakura explained.  
Yamato added, “Not only that, if he had sent Sai to contact Orochimaru, then he might be planning a new ‘Crush Konoha’ plan just so that he can plummet the village into chaos and to try to overthrow Tsunade-sama and be Hokage himself.”  
Ino and Sakura had looks of shock on their faces as they remembered the plan that happened after their first Chūnin exam.  
“This Danzo is really just trying to cause trouble for Tsunade-sama just to overthrow her?” Ino asked in disgust.  
“It is a possibility and every minute we spend not catching up, we lose the trail to find Sai. Now, are we all ready to find more clues about Sai’s real intentions?” Yamato asked them. Ino and Sakura nodded and then they took off to catch up to Yamato’s clone.  
With Orochimaru, Kabuto and Sai,  
They had reached their hideout that was inside a large boulder and they had made the entryway open and all three went through it. They walked through a hallway, with candles along the walls, lighting the way. They all kept walking until they came into a large room with a statue of a large snake. There were candles in the eyes of the snake, making the snake’s eyes seem to glow. In front of the statue, there was a person sitting, silently, as if he was waiting for someone.  
Sai thought to himself, “That’s…”  
Then in the eerie silence, the person’s eyes were open, revealing two Sharingan eyes in the shadows.  
Then the person spoke, “You’re late, Orochimaru.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweak in it.


	14. Ch.13: Bonds Remembered

“You’re late, Orochimaru,” a person had said from the darkness, woth only his eyes glowing red, revealing his Sharingan.  
Sai had thought, “That’s… Sasuke Uchiha.”  
Then Sasuke added, “You said you’d teach me a new technique this afternoon.”  
Kabuto muttered, “Again with the rude tone.”  
Then Orochimaru said, “Relax, I picked up a little present to make it up to you.”  
Then he gestured to Sai and added, “He’s a Konoha shinobi, just like you. I thought you could reminisce about the good old days in the village.”  
Sasuke simply glared and then Sai introduced himself, “Hello, I’m Sai. You must be Sasuke Uchiha-”  
“Shut up,” Sasuke cut him off.  
“Even if I force myself to smile, I guess I’m just easy to hate. Ino-san hated me when we first met too,” Sai explained while smiling. Then he added, “But between the two of you, I think I may get along better with you.”  
Sasuke was silent and then as Sai looked into his eyes, he had a shocked look in his eyes as he sees images within a genjutsu causing him to fall over.  
“Sasuke-kun!” Kabuto shouted at Sasuke to stop.  
Sai wiped his face and questioned, “Sweat?”  
“Even me, someone who is completely without emotion… Just by looking into his eyes, he had called upon images within my subconscious I couldn’t even recognize?” Sai had thought in confusion.  
“I’d leave Sasuke-kun alone if I were you; his temper is even worse than mine,” Orochimaru warned.  
Sasuke then said, “I’ve got nothing to say to this loser, train me now Orochimaru.”  
Sai interrupted, “Ino-san, has told me about you. She’s been searching for clues about you throughout these past two and a half years.”  
It was silent for a few seconds before Sasuke replied, “Yeah, I remember her. Let’s go, Orochimaru.”  
Sai then continued, “Ino-san truly thinks of you as a brother, Sakura-san told me that.”  
Sasuke only glared at him again and replied, “I only have one family member, my brother, and all I care about is killing him.”  
Then he turned and disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the three alone.  
“All right, I’ll be going. Kabuto, make a Bingo Book out of these,” Orochimaru asked while handing him the envelope Sai gave him.  
“Okay,” Kabuto replied as he took the envelope.  
“I’ll leave the rest to you,” Orochimaru said, walking away from them.  
Kabuto then opened up the envelope to look at its contents; what he found was surprising.  
“These are… copies of the files on the Hokage-controlled ANBU,” he said to himself as he looked through them.  
Then he stopped on the file with Yamato’s picture on it, and then said, “And they seem to be the real deal.”  
Outside the hideout, Yamato, Ino, and Sakura all caught up to Yamato’s clone after they had taken a small break.  
Yamato asked, “Is this the place?”  
The clone answered, “Yes. The entrance is right in front of us, beneath those boulders.”  
Then Ino said, “Then right underneath those boulders, we’ll find Sasuke.”  
Sakura added, “There is a strong chance.”  
Then Yamato said, “At the very least, there’ll be some very important clues there.”  
“Well, let’s go,” Ino said but Yamato stopped her, “Wait a second.”  
Then he placed his hand on his clone’s back and then the clone shrunk down into a small seed in his hand.  
He held it out to Ino, “Swallow this first, Ino.”  
Then he added, “It’s okay, there’s nothing to worry about.”  
He held out his other hand with the same kind of seed towards Sakura and said, “Here’s yours, Sakura. This way, I’ll be able to find out where you two are if we get split up.”  
Both girls looked surprised and Sakura asked, “You can do that with this? What is it exactly?”  
Yamato explained, “Basically, those seeds are transmitters used for tracking. They’re a type of ninja tool that will only resonate with my chakra. They’re the same thing I slipped in Sai’s clothes and food.”  
Ino questioned, “His clothes and food?”  
“So that’s how you were able to track them here,” Sakura said.  
And then Ino asked, “Yamato-Taichou, when did you do that?”  
He answered, “I had left the hot spring earlier than Sai. Now you understand why I used my own money to treat you to a luxurious meal and hot springs, right?”  
Sakura smiled amusedly and said, “So it wasn’t just an attempt to make us get along.”  
Yamato nodded and explained, “Tsunade-sama warned me to keep a close eye on Sai and I did. Anyway forget about that, hurry up and swallow them!”  
So both Ino and Sakura swallowed the seeds and Yamato said, “All right! Let’s go you two.”  
Both Kunoichi answered, “Yes sir!”  
Then Yamato put his ear to the ground for a few seconds and then stood up saying, “I can berely sense any human presence. It’s probably safe to assume there are only a few enemies in there. But don’t let your guard down! We are up against Orochimaru and we’ll have to think of Sai as an enemy now as well. We’ll infiltrate with me going in first, then Sakura and finally Ino.”  
Ino asked, “How will we break in?”  
Yamato answered, “We’ll go by the book. Enter from underground using Earth element techniques. I’ll start by making a shaft right around here. After we’re down far enough, I’ll carve out a tunnel and proceed slowly.”  
Ino and Sakura ageed and then Yamato weaved a few hand seals and hit the ground with his palm and created a hole.  
“You both come down on my signal,” Yamato instructed as he jumped in the hole. After his signal, both Ino and Sakura followed him.  
Back in the hideout, Kabuto led Sai into a room and locked him in. While inside, Sai had opened two scrolls to unseal a small black book and he was reading through it until he stopped on one page until he heard the click of a lock turning. Startled, he hastily put his put his book and scrolls back in his bag and then he slowly turned to the door revealing Yamato.  
All three of them got inside and Yamato said, “I thought you’d be here.”  
“Nothing less from one of the Hokage’s personal ANBU, the corpse didn’t fool you at all,” Sai said.  
Yamato asked, “Just what do you mean by that?”  
Then Ino angrily shouted, “Why the hell did you turn on us, traitor?!”  
Sai only replied, “You shouldn’t be so noisy, or things will get even more difficult.”  
Ino hissed, “Bastard!”  
“Ino,” Sakura calmly said.  
She went up to Sai and handed him his picture book asing, “This is yours, isn’t it?”  
Sai accepted the book back and replied “Thank you.”  
“Danzou’s orders, right? He’s plotting something involving Orochimaru, isn’t he? And you were chosen to be their liaison. What are they up to?” Sakura asked.  
Yamato then asked, “He wants to team up with Orochimaru to try a new ‘Crush Konoha’ plan, doesn’t he?”  
Sai then replied while putting on a fake smile, “No, he doesn’t…”  
“We all know that smile is fake and don’t try to lie unless you want me to look in your mind. Because I will if I have to,” Ino cut him off, threatening him calmly.  
After a small silence, Sai answered, “Since you found out and I can’t defeat you three by myself; my mission is a failure. Yes, he wants to destroy the current Konoha.”  
“What?” Ino asked in a sharp tone.  
“I was to be taken in by Orochimaru with the understanding that I would help him conspire against Konoha. That is the true mission that was assigned to me,” Sai explained.  
“Do you even understand what you’re saying?!” Ino asked in outrage.  
“That’s not all; I’m also to secretly send back information on Orochimaru to Danzou-sama. In other words, I’m also working as a spy,” Sai explained further.  
Yamato pointed a kunai to Sai and demanded, “Keep talking and don’t leave one detail out.”  
Then Sakura asked, “So you’re supposed to be part of an alliance with Orochimaru while spying on him behind his back?”  
Sai nodded and calmly explained more, “The moment that Konoha is destroyed, Orochimaru will betray us. It’s a preventative measure to make sure we keep the upper hand.”  
“I see,” Yamato said in understanding.  
“Danzou wants to make Konoha his you’re supposed to, make it happen all by yourself?” Sakura asked.  
Sai replied, “The information I write on my scrolls, takes on the form of small animals, that’s how I can leak information without compromising my safety. It’s because of that ability that I was chosen for this mission.”  
Sakura rebutted, “If Konoha is thrown into chaos, lots of people will die again! Do you really understand what it is you’re trying to do?!”  
Sai bluntly said, “Who cares? I’m just following orders. And also, ‘Sai’ was given as a name for me for this mission. I am no one. I am merely one of Danzou-sama’s arms I do not exist; there is no point in saying anything to me.”  
Then Sakura looked down at the book in his hands and asked, “But then if that’s true, why do you still treasure that picture book so much?”  
Sai had a look of surprise and then he held the book up to his eyes to look at it.  
Sakura added, “The two children on the covers are you and your brother, aren’t they? Why is that book so precious to you? It’s because that it is the only thing that proves you exist, that you don’t want to let go of your image of yourself as a little brother. You haven’t lost your emotions as much as you tend to claim; no shinobi can fully throw away their emotions. The fact that you accepted the book back and said ‘thank you’ proves it; you felt relief when I gave it back.”  
“How does carrying this book around prove that I exist?” Sai asked.  
“The reason why you don’t want to let go of that picture book… is because you don’t want to let go of the bond you had with your older brother,” Sakura answered.  
“Bond?” Sai asked.  
Yamato spoke up, “I apologize but we took a look at the contents of the book. Only the two center pages were incomplete. Sai, I know that you are from ANBU Root, and you had to go through special training to kill your emotions.”  
“Special training?” Ino asked in confusion.  
Yamato explained, “Sai had been subjected to the training that Kirigakure had once used.”  
“The training that Kirigakure used? But that was Zabuza’s training.” Ino exclaimed as she recalled her first C-rank mission years before.  
Yamato continued, “Going by the flow of the book, you take the weapons and armor of the foes you defeat, eventually leading to when you had to fight your brother. So in other words, you killed…”  
“I did not!” Sai objected, cutting him off.  
Then Sai explained, “This book was supposed to be a present for my brother, but when it was almost complete, he had… he had died of a disease.”  
After a brief pause, he continued, “And the two center pages were the ones I wanted to show him the most. But since he died, I can’t remember what I wanted to draw on them.”  
After his explanation, they had bound him up and were preparing to to look for Sasuke. They were outside when Sai inputted, “You shouldn’t waste your time.”  
All three had looked at him as he continued, “I met Sasuke… and he doesn’t think much of you. Why do you try so hard? Why all of this effort for someone who doesn’t think of you as a comrade or a friend; you weren’t ordered to do this, so why?”  
Ino at first didn’t say anything but then she surprised him by smiling sadly.  
Then she spoke, “Years ago, I had a huge crush on Sasuke and I had tried my hardest to get him to like me as well. But I was only fooling myself to think that he ever cared at all, that he’d stay home. I had made myself and him a promise that I’d be ready to bring him back and to fight him if I had to.”  
Sai was stunned and then he said, “But against Orochimaru, you wouldn’t…”  
“I don’t care who I have to fight or how much Sasuke has changed, I will bring him back, because I know that deep down, there is still a light inside him and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep it from going out,” Ino interrupted with a determined look in her eyes.  
Then suddenly, kunai were flung at them as Kabuto snuck on them and took Sai still bound, avoiding their attacks and it seemed to overwhelm him.  
Then he turned to Sai and said, “You haven’t betrayed us, so I’ll trust you for now.”  
He used his chakra scalpel to break the wood that had Sai bound and he got up.  
Then he commented to Ino and the others, “Also, just so you know you’re all wasting your time trying to take Sasuke-kun back. I must say, I genuinely feel sorry for you people. People change; Sasuke-kun’s not the same person that you used to know.”  
Ino glared angrily at Kabuto but then it suddenly turned to one of shock as she and the others watched as Sai subdued Kabuto by holding his arm back from behind.  
Kabuto looked back at Sai and asked in confusion, “What is the meaning of this?”  
Sai didn’t say anything so Kabuto demanded, “Your mission was to be the liaison between Orochimaru-sama and Danzou…so why?”  
Sai then replied, “You said that people change; that means I can too.”  
Kabuto glared and questioned, “What?”  
Sai continued, “But there are also things that don’t change. That bond… I want to see it for myself, Ino-san.”  
Soon they bound Kabuto in wood and Yamato left a wood clone to guard him. Then they went back into the hideout and then they had split up into two groups; the same groups as before. So Ino and Sai ran toward one corridor while Yamato and Sakura ran in the other direction. Both teams were searching every room swiftly yet frantically, opening each door, searching for any clue to where Sasuke could be. Ino was using her sensor perception but she couldn’t get a clear chakra signature. So far they found nothing that could lead them to Sasuke. Sai suggested they rest so they wouldn’t be exhausted and Ino reluctantly agreed. They both sat on the floor next to each other and they were immersed in complete silence. Then Sai brought his bag on his lap to open it.  
He uttered, “You really remind me of him; my brother I mean.”  
He pulled his picture book out of his bag and brought it to his eyes and continued, “He was loud, can be a bit demanding but he means well. When I look at you, you really make me think of him.”  
Then he suddenly widened his eyes and was staring into space, like he was in a daze.  
Confused, Ino asked, “Sai, what’s wrong?”  
He seemed to snap out of it and pulled a paint brush out of his bag and opened his book to the center pages, drawing on them.  
He murmurs, “I remember…I remember!”  
Ino looks at what he draws and smiles, saying, “That’s…”  
After he was finished, he held it open and on the center pages were his brother and him in ANBU outfits, holding hands and smiling.  
“This is what I wanted to my brother, the picture of our dreams,” Sai explained as he smiled.  
Only Ino saw that Sai was smiling a geniuine smile and she smiled as well. Then they heard footsteps approaching and they turned to their right and saw Orochimaru standing there.  
Then he asked, “Well Sai, who will you side with this time?”  
Ino and Sai stood up, ready to fight but Ino said, “Sai, go find Sasuke, I’ll hold him off.”  
Sai wanted to protest but Ino cut him off, “You try to find Sasuke, and I’ll catch up to you later.”  
Sai nodded and replied, “Okay, I’ll find Sasuke.”  
Then Sai took off to find Sasuke, Ino turned towards Orochimaru and he shouted, “Sen’ei Jashu!”  
Ino dodged all of the snakes and kept trying to get a hit as she kept getting closer only she was stopped by a snake grabbing her ankle, and she was thrown to the ground. Then suddenly, a block of wood had been directed towards Orochimaru, breaking through the wall, causing Orochimaru to jump back. Yamato and Sakura came out to help her and they were holding him off.  
With Sai, he went into the next corridor they haven’t checked and pulled out a spare scroll, drawing small on it and whispered, “Ninpou, Chouju Giga.”  
The black mice came alive and they all searched the rooms until one mouse went into one room that seemed to be the room where Sasuke was.  
Back with the others, Orochimaru sensed what Sai was doing.  
He says, “I’ll let you all live for now; my main concern is Sai.”  
Then he disappears in smoke and Ino turned to Yamato and Sakura.  
Yamato asks, “Where’s Sai?”  
Ino answered, “I sent him off to find Sasuke, now we better get to him before Orochimaru does.”  
Sakura opened Sai’s picture book that was on the ground and whispered, “This is…”  
Ino smiled and explained, “Yeah, he remembered what he wanted to draw.”  
Then Yamato was looking through Sai’s bag and pulled out a black book and looked through it, letting out a startled gasp.  
Ino and Sakura turned to Yamato and Ino asked, “What’s wrong?”  
“Look at this, this was in Sai’s bag,” Yamato showed them the book.  
Sakura asked, “What’s that?”  
“This is a bingo book; something that usually assassins carry,” Yamat answered.  
“Why would Sai have something like this and what are these X’s for?” Sakura asked in confusion.  
Yamato explained, “These X’s shows which ninjas he has already taken out and they are mostly missing nin. And look at this…” Then he turned a page and it showed Sasuke’s picture on it.  
Shocked, Ino asked, “Why is Sasuke’s picture in this bingo book?”  
Grimly, Yamato explained, “Sai’s secret mission wasn’t to be a liaison at all; he was sent to assassinate Sasuke.”  
“No, that can’t be! He just said that he’d help save Sasuke and he actually smiled a sincere smile…” Ino objected.  
Sakura interrupted, “But what if it was an elaborate façade to trick you, Ino?”  
Ino looked down at the floor as Yamato said, “Spies and assassins use all different tactics to gain a person’s trust. It was probably second nature to Sai to trick all of us.”  
Suddenly, Yamato turned his head towards to where Sai had run off, “I felt Sai’s chakra spike; we’d better get to him first.” Yamato said.  
Ino nodded and then they followed Yamato, running to get to Sai, when they started to feel the earth shake with the sound of an explosion. It was in the direction where Sai was; so they ran faster to see what happened. Soon they saw light at the end of a corridor and they saw Sai staring up.  
Then before either of them could stop her, Sakura ran towards Sai until she reached the outside and grabbed onto Sai’s collar of his shirt.  
She angrily lashed out, “What are you playing at?! How many times are you going to stab us in the …”  
“Sakura, huh?” a voice interrupted.  
Sakura stopped abruptly and slowly turned her head towards where she heard the voice. From where she was, Ino could tell what made her friend so rigid. She watched her as her lips forming the name, “Sasuke-kun?” Then Ino after Sakura and came outside and looked up as well.  
Ino whispered, “Sasuke…”  
Sasuke was standing on a ledge outside of the crater he created apparently, staring down at them with an emotionless blank expression. He wore an open long-sleeved white shirt, dark blue pants with a blue cloth held with a purple rope belt where a sword resides behind his back.  
“Ino…” Sasuke said in acknowledgement.  
He continued, “I assume that Kakashi and Naruto are with you?”  
Yamato came out as well and explained, “I’m not Kakashi-san; I’m here in his place to be in charge of Team Kakashi and we’re her to take you back to Konoha.”  
“Team Kakashi, huh?” Sasuke murmured.  
Sai took out his tantō and pointed it towards Sasuke. “Sai, I knew it! You’re…” Sakura yelled.  
“So Sakura is standing in place of Naruto and that guy is supposed to be my replacement. He said something about keeping the ‘bonds’ I had with my former teammates,” Sasuke commented.  
Confused, Sakura asked, “Sai… why? Wasn’t your mission…?”  
“It is true that my true mission was to kill Sasuke-kun, but I don’t care about my orders anymore. I wish to do things of my own free will. I don’t know much about bonds but as I watch Ino-san trying to keep that bond from being severed, I feel I can learn from it,” Sai exclaimed.  
He paused for a second and then said to Sasuke, “I don’t know what makes a bond, but Sasuke-kun, you should know.”  
Sasuke replied, “Oh, I know. That’s why I severed them.”  
Ino and Sakura looked shocked while Yamato and Sai looked grim.  
Sasuke continued to explain, “I have a different type of bond; a bond of hatred towards my older brother.”  
Ino grit her teeth as she murmured, “Why?”  
Sasuke watched as Ino shook and he thought, “She has changed a little bit.”  
Then Ino shouted, “If you feel that you have severed those bonds; why didn’t you just kill Naruto that day? Surely, that could have severed that bond much faster.”  
Sasuke answered, “That’s true; it could have been a faster way to cut it. It wasn’t that I couldn’t kill him that day; I only let him live on a whim.”  
Ino then said, “Don’t you know the severity of staying with Orochimaru? He only wants you as a host body. Do you really want that?”  
Sasuke then thought, “She still doesn’t understand.”  
Then after a pause, he replies, “Fulfilling my revenge to kill my brother; is all that matters to me. If I have to give up my body to be stronger, then so be it.”  
Ino frowned at his decision when suddenly Sasuke came up close to her before she could blink.  
Ino thought in alarm, “He’s gotten faster!”  
Sasuke had his hand on her shoulder and he murmured, “By the way, if Naruto is not here, then where is he?”  
Ino looked forward instead of at him and she replied, “Naruto said that if he were to face you at all, he’d be better prepared. He’s taking the Chūnin Exam right now and he’s training.”  
Sasuke had, for a second, smirked and commented, “For once, I have to agree that he’s not ready to face me. Just like you’re not, Ino. Since he’s not here, I’ll kill you on a whim instead.”  
He unsheathed his sword as he was talking and then was about to strike until Sai stepped in to block him. Then Ino used the opportunity to try to attack him and Yamato prepared a jutsu to subdue him.  
But before they could attack, Sasuke shouted, “Chidori Nagashi!”  
Then an electrical current had spread from Sasuke’s body and stunned both Sai and Ino, sending them to the ground twitching. After the electric current died down, Sakura built up chakra in her fist and ran forward to try to stop him herself. But Yamato saw that Sasuke would counterattack and stepped in to stop him instead. Only Sasuke pierced his shoulder with his sword and ran electric currents through it to numb him.  
But then while Sasuke was focused on Yamato, Ino whispered, “Shitenshin no Jutsu!”  
In his mindscape, she had made a grave mistake trying to control Sasuke.  
“Don’t you think I would remember how your technique works, Ino?” Sasuke’s voice echoed around her.  
It was overwhelming her and she held her head trying to force his voice out. But then he cast a genjutsu, making her watch memories that she’d rather not relive, until ultimately, Sasuke drove her out of his body by force.  
Breathing heavily, Ino watched as Sasuke glared at her and then Yamato pushed the sword out with wood, pushing him backwards.  
Then Yamato rapidly formed hand seals and yelled, “Mokuton, Mokujōheki!”  
Wood had sprung up from the ground and formed a dome around Sasuke but he easily escaped through the top of the dome and landed back on the ledge.  
“I’ve had enough all of you,” Sasuke said.  
He placed his sword in the ground, quickly formed hand seals and lifted his hand but before he could finish, Orochimaru suddenly appeared and grabbed his wrist, stopping him.  
“You’re not using that technique, Sasuke-kun,” Orochimaru told him.  
Then Kabuto had come and added, “We need them alive to get rid of the Akatsuki for us. It would be easier for your revenge, wouldn’t it?”  
Sasuke then slowly lowered his hand and wordlessly placed his sword back in its sheath. Then as he stared down at them, the three of them disappeared with their bodies flickering away like flames, until finally they were gone.  
“I couldn’t’ stop him on my own; I’m not strong enough,” Ino thought in despair, as she hid her face in her hands, tears streaming down her cheeks.  
Then Sakura spoke up, “Crying… Crying won’t solve anything, Ino. We will train harder and next time, we won’t fail.”  
Ino listens to Sakura even though she can tell she is crying as well. Ino took a minute to compose herself, while wiping her tears away.  
“You’re right and I’m not about to give up that easily!” Ino said determinedly.  
Yamato smiled and then said to them, “Well then, let’s all go home everyone.”  
All three of them nodded and then started their trek back to Konoha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks to it.


	15. Ch.14: Nicknames and Akatsuki

When they had returned, Ino was in the library looking for a particular book until she found it. Then before she left, she saw Sai with a few books on the table he was sitting at  
“Oh, it’s Sai.” Ino thought out loud.  
He was reading to himself when she came over to him ans asked, “Are you looking at an art book?”  
Sai turned to her and acknowledged her, “Ino-san…”  
“I didn’t think you’re much of a reader,” Ino commented.  
Sai blushed a bit and mumbled, “Just a little bit.”  
Ino sat down but she had looked at the book he was reading before he covered the pages of one and covered the title of another one with both of his hands.  
“I guess even Sai can act normal sometimes,” she thought.  
She sat down and then said, “I just had a talk with Naruto and we were going to visit Kakashi-Sensei in the hospital. Sai, do you want to come along?”  
Sai questioned, “Kakashi-Sensei?”  
“Well, you are a member of Team Kakashi after all. You should at least introduce yourself to him and to Naruto.” Ino replied.  
Then they left the library until Ino spotted Naruto.  
She called out to him, “Naruto!”  
“Ino, I was wondering when you were coming. I wanted to tell you that…” Naruto started but then he trailed off as he looked behind Ino.  
Then he glared at Sai and shouted, “What the hell are you doing here?!”  
Ino looked confused as she saw that he was angry at Sai, so she asked, “Naruto, what’s wrong?”  
He pointed at Sai and answered, “That guy attacked me the day you left, Ino!”  
Ino looked surprised, but then she saw Naruto about to attack Sai.  
But she intervened, “Wait, Naruto! He’s our teammate!”  
Naruto stood there with his eyes wide and his mouth agape.  
He pointed at Sai again and asked, “He’s our new teammate?!” Then Ino proceeded to explain everything that happened and Sai properly introduced himself.   
Until finally Naruto said, “Well, if you were just testing me, you didn’t have to go that far.”  
Sai replied, “I apologize about that, I merely wished to to see how strong you are. And honestly, I must say that you are a bit stronger that I expected.”  
Naruto was surprised but then smiled at him, warming up to him already.  
Ino smiled as well until she asked, “By the way Naruto, what did you want to tell me?”  
Then Naruto’s smile got bigger as he pulled a paper out from his pocket, unfolded it and showed it to Ino.  
“I passed the exam! I’m officially a Chūnin!” Naruto exclaimed happily.  
Ino smiled and replied, “That’s great Naruto, I’m happy for you.”  
Ino then suddenly turned solemn and said, “Also, there was something I wanted to tell you too.”  
Naruto then listened intently as Ino retold the mission, how they fought Orochimaru and Kabuto, how they encountered Sasuke and how strong he has become.  
After the story, Naruto looked grim as he grit his teeth.  
“So he’s that strong huh?” Naruto said. “Well then, I’ll just train harder and then we’ll bring him back.”  
Ino smiled at Naruto and then they heard, “N-Naruto, I-Ino…”  
They both turned towards Sai and then he asked awkwardly, “May I join in your conversation?”  
They looked at him questioningly until he explained, “Well you see, I’ve read in a book that you form friendships faster if you just call them by their name without suffixes.”  
“Oh, was that what you were nervous about?” Naruto asked with a smile.  
Then Ino said, “Then that book you were reading before…”  
Sai nodded and then explained, “I read that you call them by their name or make a nickname.”  
“You don’t just make a nickname right away; they just kind of happen,” Naruto explained.  
While Ino added, “Sometimes people’s traits or personality can be used as a nickname.”  
She continued, “For example, Naruto the jerk or Naruto the dunce can describe him.”  
Naruto replied while being put out, “Ino…”  
Sai then put his hand under his chin, contemplating their advice.  
Ino thought, “He really is taking this seriously isn’t he?”  
Then Sai had his eyes on her, analyzing her with an intense gaze. Ino fidgeted a bit and said to him, “You don’t have to look at me like that.”  
Sai then nodded and said, “Thank you, I think I understand it better now, Loudmouth.”  
There was a piercing silence and the only one who was scared was Naruto as he bore a look of shock. Then Ino grew angry and Naruto tried to keep her back, saying, “Sai you’re killing me!”  
“Oh, am I?” Sai asked innocently.  
Then she broke free of Naruto’s grip and then punched Sai across the face.  
Ino sighed in exasperation, “You really need to work more on your social skills.”  
After that, they went to the hospital to visit Kakashi.  
“So you’re our new team member, Sai, right?” Kakashi said. “It’s nice to meet you.”  
Sai replied while rubbing his cheek in pain, “Yes, sir.”  
Then Kakashi said to Ino, “Come here, Ino.”  
Ino went closer to Kakashi as he whispered, “That bruise on Sai’s cheek, I know that Naruto just met him but he can’t be picking a fight with him already.”  
Ino then laughed nervously and replied, “Oh no. it’s nothing like that, we’re all friends.”  
“Oh I see, I’m glad.” Kakashi replied.  
Then the atmosphere turned grim when Naruto said, “Ino…”  
Ino nodded her head and said to Kakashi, “Kakashi-Sensei, on my last mission, Sai and I saw…”  
“Yamato told me everything, even about Sasuke,” Kakashi interrupted.  
“Then how can we beat him at the level we are right now? When we battled with him, I used the Mind Transfer technique on him, and not only had he broken out of it, he expelled me out of his mind. Also, he must be learning forbidden techniques from Orochimaru, and with Kabuto he must have gone through drugs. Just reading about it won’t help me learn about what has been done to him. So how can we compete with him when he is so strong?” Ino asked lamently.  
Kakashi answered, “Then we just have to get stronger as well.”  
Ino argued, “We only have half a year left; how are we…”  
Kakashi interrupted again, “You don’t think I was just sitting here in bed doing nothing did you? I’ve been thinking and I finally have an idea.”  
Naruto and Ino looked at him in surprise and then he continued, “Of course this idea will require some time to execute it.”  
“But we don’t have time, Sasuke will be…” Naruto rebutted.  
But Kakashi cut him off, “Which is why I’ve found a way to train in less time than needed.”  
He paused for a moment to make sure Naruto was listening and added, “But this training is more suited for you, Naruto. If this can be done; you may surpass even surpass me.”  
Naruto mumbled in disbelief, “I could surpass you?”  
Kakashi nodded and then said, “But it’s not like a book where the main character gets stronger insanely fast; it will require a lot of work on your part, Naruto for the training we’ll do.  
Naruto then asked, “What is this method that will require less time?”  
“Well, it’s…” Kakashi started.  
“How are you doing, Kakashi?” The door slid open and revealed Asuma and his team.  
Sakura scolded Asuma, “Asuma-Sensei, you could at least knock first.”  
Then they all came into the room and Shikamaru greeted, “Hey Ino, you’re home. Did your mission turn out…”  
He trailed off as he saw Sai next to Naruto and grimaced, “You’re that guy from before.” He grits his teeth and Chouji gasped as he recognized him as well.  
Sakura, who didn’t know what came over her two teammates, had asked, “Shikamaru, Chouji, what’s wrong?”  
“Why did this have to happen today? Keep calm and start with a smile,” Sai thought to himself.  
He smiled and said, “Hello.”  
Then Naruto explained what Ino told him to Shikamaru and Chouji and what happened with Sai before was a misunderstanding.  
Then Kakashi asked Asuma, “So what exactly do you want? This isn’t a lounge.”  
“You’re right, I needed to speak with you so my team will go on ahead to Yakiniku Q. Team 7 is invited as well and it’s on me.” Asuma said.  
“Alright!” Chouji shouted in joy.  
So then they all went to Yakiniku Q except Shikamaru and Ino.  
“Chouji, where’s Shikamaru?” Sakura asked.  
He answered, “He said that he had to help his Dad collect deer antlers for medicine.”  
“I see, but where is Ino?” Sakura asked, directing the question to Naruto.  
Naruto answered, “Ino said that she had to work a shift at the flower shop.”  
But he thought, “Of course, that was not entirely true, I think I know where she really is.”  
He grinned to himself while Kurama was laughing loudly in his head.  
At Ino’s house, Ino was busy preparing the stove and tied on a white apron while Shikamaru sat in the living room.  
“You don’t have to make me lunch Ino; we could have eaten with everyone else.” Shikamaru said to her as he sat on the sofa.  
“I wanted to make you lunch, besides, I already bought the ingredients for your favorite and I wanted to cook it for you.” Ino replied from the kitchen.  
Shikamaru asked curiously, “You’re making my favorite?”  
Ino turned on the rice cooker and then popped her head around the corner to look into the living room.  
She replies, “Of course I’m making your favorite, mackerel and kelp. Since you made me my favorite, I’m returning the favor.”  
She returns into the kitchen and brings a cup of tea and hands it to him. She smiles at him and then goes back into the kitchen again. As she prepares the mackerel, she hums to herself, completely oblivious to her surroundings. She didn’t even notice Shikamaru watching her from the doorway, sporting a small smile. Then he quickly but silently moved away from the door before Ino noticed him. She placed both plates down on the table for Shikamaru and herself and made sure everything was in order. When she was satisfied, she walked back into the living room and told Shikamaru, “Lunch is ready Shika, I hope you’re hungry.”  
Then they both sat down at the table together and they started to eat. Ino watched as Shikamaru took a bite out of the mackerel, nervous if he would like it or not. But then she saw him pause in his chewing and the corner of his lips turned upwards into one of his half-smiles; she took this as a good sign.  
She asked, “Well, what do you think? Do you like it?”  
He swallowed the mackerel, smiled at her and answered, “It’s delicious, Ino.”  
Ino beamed at him in response and started to eat as well. Then they got into conversation as they were eating and just enjoyed each other’s company.  
When they were finished Shikamaru said to her, “Thanks for lunch, Ino.”  
Ino smiled and replied, “I’m glad you liked it Shika.”  
She got up from her seat and started to gather the plates but Shikamaru gathered them up instead.  
“At least let me help you with the dishes, Ino,” He offered.  
Ino made a mock gasp of disbelief, “Shikamaru Nara offering to help with dishes; I’m shocked.”  
He rolled his eyes as she laughed but she didn’t object the help and started washing the dishes.  
Then Ino commented as Shikamaru looked over at her to listen, “You know, this is really nice, being here and doing something that doesn’t have anything to do with being a shinobi.”  
She continued, “I know it’s only washing dishes its something that seems relaxing to me as well as taking care of the house. I don’t have to worry about missions, mission reports, fighting enemy shinobi, trying to convince…”  
She trailed off as she thought of her fateful reunion with the rogue ninja, Sasuke, the plate and sponge held rigid in her hands.  
She finished her thought with a whisper, “Trying to convince an old teammate to come home.”  
She looked down into the sink half full of soapy water, her eyes downcast, while Shikamaru watched her in concern.  
Then Shikamaru inputted, “I heard about Sasuke from Tsunade-sama and from Sakura and she told me he had gotten stronger. If something about him comes up again, let me know, I’ll try to help you and Naruto.”  
Ino looked up at him as he added, “I don’t know if I would be much help, but I’ll do whatever I can, because I can’t stand to see you so upset.”  
Ino was happy that he cares so much that he would help find a person she knows he doesn’t really like. It made her feel warm and light-hearted, that she dropped the plate and sponge she was holding in the water and flung her arms around his neck in a hug, causing him to stiffen in surprise.  
She whispered, “Thank you, Shika.”  
Slowly, he glided his hands around her waist and returned the embrace, his chin resting on her head. Then Ino unintentionally inhaled his scent fresh grass and pine trees, triggering her memory of the dream she had of Shikamaru. She blushed a little bit as she released him of her embrace; she looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back and then they both went back to washing the dishes. They were almost finished until she had an impulse to ask him something that had been plagueing her for days.  
“Shika, before I left for my mission, why did you kiss my forehead?” Ino asked nervously.  
Shikamaru blushed in embarrassment and then answered, “I guess you could say that it was a reminder for you that I’m here if you need me.”  
Ino smiled and she replied, “I see, thanks.” She felt a little disappointed with his answer for some odd reason however. Shikamaru nodded at her and they finished the dishes.  
“Well, I have to get home to help my Dad; I didn’t lie about that,” Shikamaru explained.  
Ino nodded and replied, “Okay, I’m glad you could have lunch with me. It was nice to talk with you like this.”  
“I’m glad I stayed; it was nice,” Shikamaru said as he walked through the entrance of the flower shop. He smirked and then waved at her, walking towards his home.  
Ino waved back before he turned around and then watched as he walked away until he was out of her sight. She smiled serenely as she somehow felt a fluttering in her heart, of course she doesn’t know why but she doesn’t seem to mind. So then she opened the flower shop and had started with her shift.

Somewhere in Kumogakure…  
A young blonde-haired woman was running within the underground sewer system until she jumped out of the way of a red scythe with three blades on it, the blades landing in a large area with interconnecting tunnels.  
A man’s voice echoed through the sewer, “You avoided my attack, huh?”  
The young woman glared as she turned towards the voice, watching as two men walked into the area through the tunnel where she came from. The man who spoke was holding a wire that was attached to the scythe, he had purple eyes, silver hair, an open-collar black cloak with red clouds, black pants, black sandals and his forehead protector was around his neck.  
He spoke again, “Of course, my attack is the slowest of the Akatsuki and my aim is terrible.”  
The woman leered at them as she said, “Just as I suspected, you are of Akatsuki.”  
Then the other man, who had his head and mouth covered where you only see his green eyes and had the same black cloak, he said to his partner, “This is the host of Niibi, be cautious Hidan, or you’ll get killed.”  
The man called Hidan scoffed, “Oh please Kakuzu, I’d wish nothing more than to get killed.”  
Then Kakuzu said, “Let’s go, Hidan.”  
Then Hidan took out a beaded necklace, it had a circle pendant with a triangle in the circle. He said, “Wait, first I have to confer with my Kami.” He held the beaded necklace to his lips and closed his eyes as he prayed.   
The woman watched, puzzled at what Hidan was doing.  
“You and your deity, it’s annoying.” Kakuzu sneered.  
Hidan retorted, “It’s annoying for me too, but the commandments are very strict, so I have no choice!”  
Then the woman smirked, and exclaimed, “Heh, you think you chased me in here? Actually…”  
She paused to form a hand sign and shouted, “I lured you here!”  
Then some paper bombs had exploded over the entrance to the tunnels, causing rubble to block every exit.  
“Now that I know you are Akatsuki, I won’t let you get away,” the woman declared.  
Hidan commented, unconcerned, “Seems like we’re shut in, Kakuzu.  
“It’s better this way,” Kakuzu replied.  
The woman shouted once again, “Upon my name, Yugito Ni’i of Kumogakure… I swear I will kill you!”  
Hidan pointed a finger and said, “You’ll kill me? Is that it? You know when people say stuff like that, it irritates me. And when I get irritated, I lose my temper and when I lose my temper…”  
“Shut up, Hidan,” Kakuzu cut him off.  
Hidan sighs, “Right. But you know, when I lose my temper, I start thinking, who cares about the mission, it’s time to attack.”  
“Enough Hidan, the mission is absolute.” Kakuzu cut him off again.  
Hidan continued anyway, “Still, these assignments just don’t fit with my beliefs. Total slaughter is the motto of the Church of Jashin. There is even a commandment that prohibits half-killing. So I really don’t like doing a job that requires me to break a commandment.”  
Yugito’s eyes got narrower as he added, “I may not look like it, but I’m very religious and since it’s annoying to not be able to kill you, maybe we could resolve this with negotiation?”  
Yugito questioned, “Negotiation…?” “What’s with this guy?”  
Hidan asked, “Oh come on, why don’t you let us capture you?”  
Then Yugito stooped to all fours and yelled angrily, “Don’t take me as a joke!!”  
“I’ll take that as a ‘no’ then,” Hidan said.  
“Are you an idiot, Hidan?” Kakuzu asked, irritated of his partner’s actions.  
Yugito was expelling chakra from around her body as she slowly transformed into a large two-tailed cat with a body made of blue flames.  
Hidan then said, “This jinchūriki has transformed into the beast inside her.”  
The Niibi had slashed a through the air and had forced Kakuzu away, slamming him into the rocks. Then the beast had formed a fireball and aimed it at Hidan. As it was fired, the building that they were underneath was blown to bits.  
“Ouch that’s hot! I thought cats hated heat.” Hidan complained as he hid behind a rock.  
Then he said, “So this is the two-tailed cat demon that has been referred to as a ghost, which makes me a trapped rat then.”  
He laughed a bit as he said, “How funny.”  
Hours later,   
The battle continued on until the sun had almost set. Hidan was laying on the ground with a black rod in his chest, laying inside on a diagram that looked like his pendant. Yugito, meanwhile had been pinned to the wall of the demolished building, weak and bleeding, but alive.  
Kakuzu asked impatiently, “It’s been 30 minutes, are you done yet?”  
Hidan shouted, “Shut up! Don’t interrupt the ritual!!”  
The he sat up and twitched in pain as he pulled the rod out of his chest.  
Kakuzu asked, “You perform that vulgar ritual each and every time. Can’t you just skip it?”  
“It’s tedious for me too but I have to obey it. And skip it? That’s blasphemy!!” Hidan shouted.  
Kakazu was sitting on a rock holding a map of the different countries, muttering, “There is still one more place.”  
On the map, there were several places that had X’s on all areas except…  
Hidan announced, “Tha Land of Fire is next.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks to it.


	16. Ch. 15: Training

After they had finished, Hidan and Kakuzu were then visited by Zetsu who had come out of the ground.  
He mumurred, “So you finished your winded ritual.”  
Hidan complained, “You too? Ignorant heathens, all of you.”  
Zetsu then said, “When you are sad and alone…, you can only depend on yourself.”  
Kakuzu disagrees, “No not really, I say the only thing you can believe in is money.”  
“There it is! Seriously, your damn side jobs are why it’s taking so long to find our Jinchūriki!” Hidan shouted.  
Kakuzu replied, “I only partnered up with you because I figured I could make money off of your religion. Besides, I also have to manage Akatsuki’s finances. Put yourself in my shoes for a minute.”  
Then Zetsu commented, “Money is important, but not as important as getting the next one! I’ll take the two-tails.”  
The next day…  
We find Naruto and Kakashi in the training grounds.  
“Well, we should get started.” Kakashi said, until Naruto started to laugh under his breath.  
Confused, Kakashi asked, “What is it?”  
“Well, it’s been so long since you trained me and I don’t know why but it makes me happy,” Naruto answered.  
“I see,” Kakashi replied while he smiled.  
He added, “If you want to laugh, now’s your only chance, Naruto.”  
Naruto stopped laughing as Kakashi said seriously, “Because we’re short on time.”  
Then Naruto started to listen intently and then Kakashi explained, “For our objective in your training, we’re going to create a new technique that surpasses even the Rasengan. To do that, we have to take into account of shape manipulation and chakra nature manipulation as well.”  
Naruto nodded his head excitededly and replied, “Okay.”  
Kakashi requested, “Make a Rasengan, Naruto.”  
Naruto smiled and said, “Coming right up.”  
He created a clone and then the clone was rotating Naruto’s chakra in his hand; creating the Rasengan.  
“Rasengan!” Naruto shouted as he was about to hit the ground with the sphere.  
“Okay, stop,” Kakashi interrupted.  
Naruto had stopped himself before he could hit the ground with the Rasengan and looked up at Kakashi.  
“You’ve already mastered shape manipulation; that’s what Rasengan is. You rotate your raw chakra wildly at extreme speeds and compress the energy. That is shape manipulation itself, which you could say Rasengan takes it to the ultimate level.” Kakashi explained.  
“Then I passed shape manipulation, right?” Naruto asked.  
Kakashi smiled and answered, “That’s right.”  
Naruto then threw the Rasengan into the air and yelled happily “Alright!”  
Then Kakashi said, “So now we’re going into chakra nature manipulation or rather we are going to help strengthen your control over your element that you have an affinity for.”  
Then he asked, “I’m sure you know your element affinity since you know different wind element techniques.”  
Naruto nodded and said, “Yeah, I learned some wind techniques when I was training with Ero-Sennin. I knew I had an affinity for it, so I trained in it regularly. But what will we do to learn a new technique in no time?”  
Kakashi then corrected him, “I said for it to take less time.”  
“Yeah, how will we do it?” Naruto asked.  
“We will use your Mass Shadow Clones,” Kakashi answered.  
Naruto just looked more confused and asked, “That’s it?”  
Kakashi answered, “Yes, we’ll use your Shadow Clones.”  
“I don’t think I get what you’re saying,” Naruto said.  
“Well, I thought you’d ask about that so we’ll both make a Shadow Clone; just one though.” Kakashi instructed.  
Naruto agreed and then they both said, “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”  
Then two clones appeared; one of Kakashi and one of Naruto and Kakashi’s clone said, “Now, the originals and the clones will go into separate groups. Naruto’s clone will come with me into the woods.”  
Then the clones had gone into the woods while Naruto and Kakashi waited.  
Naruto asked, “What are our clones doing?”  
“You’ll see soon enough,” Kakashi answered criptically.  
Then suddenly Naruto blinked and then he smiled and Kakashi asked, “What did our clones do then?”  
“Kakashi-Sensei you have to treat to Ichiraku Ramen because I beat you at Rock, Paper, Scissors!” Naruto answered cheekily.  
“You forced that bet on me! But you understand now right; any memories that the clone gains, the memories are then transferred to the original.” Kakashi said.  
Naruto nodded in understanding, “I see, I use it all the time and I knew of the side effect, but I guess I didn’t realize that it could be used in training.”  
Then he added, “Then if I use the clones in my training, I get more experience from each clone then.”  
Kakashi nodded and then said, “I want you to strengthen your control over the wind-natured chakra. The first exercise is to hold a leaf between your hands and cut it with your chakra.” Naruto nodded and smiled excitedly.  
Then Kakashi said, “Remember that I want you to do this training with your Shadow Clones.”  
Naruto asked, “How many should I make?”  
“Well, if eachclone gets a single leaf…” He pointed at one tree and answered, “About that many.”  
Naruto smiled and yelled, “Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”  
Then about a thousand Naruto clones had appeared, each one holding a leaf in their hands, cutting the leaf with their chakra. Of course, since he had already done this before; all of the clones had cut through their leaves pretty easily.  
Naruto and all of his clones, “We did it!” throwing the leaf halves in the air.  
Kakashi watched his student as he thought to himself, “He really has gotten stronger; there might not be much more I can teach him.”  
Then he said aloud, “”Now release your technique, Naruto; we’ll see how much more experience you have gained.”  
Naruto then released his clones and then it was just him and he was smiling.  
“Alright, so what’s the next step?” Naruto asked until he swayed a bit dazedly.  
“We also have to take into account of how much strain it can put on you,” Kakashi explained.  
Naruto shook his head and replied, “No, I’m okay, Kurama was helping me with that. Anyway, what is the next step?”  
Just as he asked that, Yamato came to them and surprised Naruto.  
“Oh, who are you?” Naruto asked.  
“I’m Yamato; I was the one who had replaced Kakashi-san on his team previously,” Yamato answered.  
Naruto then replied, “Oh that’s right, Ino about you but I haven’t met you yet. I’m Naruto Uzumaki.”  
Yamato smiled and replied, “It’s nice to meet you too.”  
Then Kakashi explained, “I asked Yamato to come to help with the next step and to also demonstrate something for us.”  
Kakashi then nodded to Yamato and then Yamato made a few hand seals and shouted, “Doton: Doryū Jōheki!”  
Suddenly, the ground from underneath Yamato rose up high; forming an earthen wall.  
Then he shouted again, “Suiton: Takitsubo no Jutsu!”  
Then water started to flow over the side of the wall; creating a large waterfall.  
“I use two elements; water and earth and I use these two at the same time to create…” He clasped his hands together and then trees sprouted along the wall next to the waterfall, “Wood element.”  
“Whoa, so you have the same wood element as the First, huh?” Naruto asked.  
“Yes, that’s right,” Yamato answered.  
Kakashi interrupted, “Anyway, on to the next step, Naruto. Now be warned: this might be a bit more difficult than cutting leaves. Your next step; is to cut the waterfall.” As he said this, Yamato had created a tree that extended across the distance of the waterfall in front of it.  
Naruto looked at Kakashi in shock and then looked up at the enormous waterfall but then he smiled and started to go up but Kakashi said, “Wait, Naruto.”  
Naruto turned back to him and asked, “What is it?”  
Kakashi replied, “This is only as a precaution but Yamato will prepare a jutsu that would suppress Kurama’s chakra from coming out.”  
Naruto was about to protest but Kurama interrupted, “He’s right, it’s best until you can properly train with my chakra.”  
Then Naruto nodded and replied, “Okay, that’s fine.”  
Then Yamato had created wooden dragon statues, sat down in the middle of them and then had the kanji for “sit” on his palm.  
Kakashi and then said, “Okay, you can go ahead.”  
Then Naruto took his jacket and shirt off, went up on the log and created a thousand clones and started to try to cut the water.  
Elsewhwhere, Kakuzu and Hidan were in front of a temple with two large statues at the front.  
“A temple, huh? Do you think the Jinchūriki would be here?” Hidan asked.  
Kakuzu answered, “This is no ordinary temple, so the odds are good.”  
Kakuzu’s hand then turned a grayish color and then he punched the giant iron doors down, causing them to crah to the ground alerting the monks in the temple.  
“What was that?!” one person shouted. While another monk said, “Alert Chiriku-sama!”  
“Noone here seems to be willing to convert to the Church of Jashin,” Hidan commented.  
In a different chamber, there was a man meditating in front of a winged statue.  
“Chiriku-sama!” a monk shouted, “Intruders!”  
Then the man called named Chiriku asked, “Who are they?”  
The man answered, “Members of the Akatsuki!”  
“I knew they would come one day but…” Chiriku thought.  
Then he said, “I’ll go; tell the others to cover me.”  
Then Chiriku went outside to face Hidan and Kakuzu.  
Hidan asked, “Another virtuous one?”  
“Not just virtuous; according to our bingo book, his head is worth 30 million ryō,” Hidan explained.  
Hidan complained, “Hey, we are not here to collect a bounty are we? Killing a monk is like a one-way ticket to Hell!”  
Kakuzu replied bluntly, “Even Hell runs on money; I’d be just fine.”  
Chiriku demanded, “I don’t know what business you have here but I suggest you leave this place at once!”  
“Not going to kill without a cause huh? That would be against my religion,” Hidan said.  
Kakuzu inputted, “This Fire Temple is a famous Shinobi temple located in the Land of Fire. It’s said that all of the monks wield a special power called The Gift of the Gods. This man especially; he was once in a group called The Guardian Shinobi Twelve that protected the Daimyo.”  
Hidan then smirked, “Guardian Shinobi Twelve huh? Impressive.”  
“That fire waistcloth is proof, so be careful Hidan or you’ll die,” Kakuzu warned.  
“As if anyone can, Kakuzu!” Hidan declared.  
Then they both charged at Chiriku and went in for attack…  
In Konoha, Ino was in the flower shop, bored out of her mind. It’s been a bit slow but she waited until her shift was over.  
Then she heard a familiar voice ask, “Want some company?” She looked up and smiled as Shikamaru came through the entryway.  
“Sure, I’m almost finished with my shift,” Ino replied. Then Ino offered the other stool and Shikamaru sat down next to her.  
Ino asked curiously, “So how has your day been?”  
Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and answered, “Nothing much, I just played Asuma in shogi and we just talked, though he sometimes talks in riddles.”  
Then he added, “Actually, Naruto came by asking Asuma about wind nature chakra, to get tips.”  
“I thought that he was training today; I haven’t seen him all morning,” Ino replied.  
Then she heard her mother come into the shop and say, “I’ll take over for you Ino, your shift is over.”  
“Okay, thanks Mom,” Ino replied.  
She took her yellow apron off and put it on a hanger and then she asked Shikamaru, “Shika, have you eaten lunch?”  
Shikamaru answered as he shook his head, “No, why?”  
Ino somehow felt a little nervous but she asked anyway, “Do you want to eat lunch with me?”  
Shikamaru looked up at her, smiled, and answered, “Sure.”  
He got up from the stool and went out of the shop, with Ino following behind him. She looked back at her mother; she smiled at Ino and gave her a wink. Ino blushed and mouthed to her, “It’s not a date.”  
Then they went to a small sushi restaurant Ino wanted to try and then they ate and talked together. They were having a good time with each other as they talked, even if Ino was doing most of the talking. Shikamaru would just listen and speak when he wanted to. Overall, it was fun for them and just as they were leaving Ino quickly paid for both of them and then dragged him away.  
Shikamaru said, “Ino, you didn’t have to pay for me.”  
Ino replied, “I invited you so it was my treat, don’t worry about it.”  
Then they were just walking through the village, enjoying each other’s company. Sometimes, when Shikamaru wasn’t looking Ino would glance at him from the corner of her eyes and would smile. But what she didn’t know was that Shikamaru was doing the same thing. Then they ended up in the forest where they heard water rushing.  
“I wonder what that is,” Ino said out of curiousity.  
Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and then followed Ino as she walked towards the sound. Then they see that it was a waterfall with Naruto and his clones in front of it.  
They hear him shout, “Here we go!”  
Then all at the same time, Naruto and his clones had cut the flow of the waterfall, cutting it completely in half.  
Ino and Shikamaru look at the feat in amazement and Ino smiled as she said, “Naruto is really amazing isn’t he?”  
Shikamaru smirked and replied, “Yeah, he is.”  
Then they watched as he dispelled his clones and then were worried when he collapsed, comepletely knocked out.  
They both rushed out as Kakashi brought Naruto down to rest against a tree.  
Then Ino asked worriedly, “Kakashi-Sensei, is Naruto okay?”  
“He’s fine, he’s been at this all day and he’s already completed these steps to strengthen his wind nature chakra. So we’ll just let him rest, otherwise he’ll just wear himself out again.” Kakashi answered.  
Naruto was sleeping soundly and Shikamaru commented, “That’s how Naruto is; he doesn’t give up no matter what.”  
Ino nodded her head in agreement as she watched her worn out teammate.  
Then Kakashi asked curiously, “Are you two on a date?”  
Both Shikamaru and Ino were blushing a bright pink and then Ino denied it while Shikamaru didn’t deny nor confirm anything.  
Back at the temple…  
Everything was in shambles, and many monks lay on the ground dead, including Chiriku.  
Hidan was lying on the ground within the same pattern as before with a blade through his chest as he said, “Looks like the Jinchūriki wasn’t here after all. When I’m finished praying, we can go.”  
But then Kakuzu picked up Chiriku’s corpse and replied, “No, we have to go now and since the Fire Country is vast, we can take out time.”  
Hidan was annoyed that he didn’t finish his ritual but then he shouted, “Hold up a minute Kakuzu!”  
Then they both left the temple but what they didn’t realize was there was one monk who saw them leaving.  
He murmured under his breath, “I have to let Konoha know.”  
Then he took off running towards Konoha to warn them of the treat in the Fire Country.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks to it.


	17. Ch. 16: Bounties and Sacrifices Part 1

Far in a forest, Hidan and Kakuzu were walking with Kakuzu holding Chiriku’s corpse by the collar of his shirt over his shoulder.  
Then he said to Hidan, “You’re turn to carry him.”  
“Hey, Hey, Hey! I’m not the one who wants the bounty; you carry him,” Hidan retorted.  
Kakuzu glared at him and then Hidan asked, “What are you giving me that look for?”  
Kakuzu answered, “One day, I will kill you.”  
Hidan scoffed, “Like you could, Kakuzu.”  
In Konoha, Kotetsu and Izumo were at the gates, bored out of their minds, until they saw a figure running towards.  
As the person came closer, Kotetsu asked, “What’s wrong sir?”  
The monk from the Fire Temple stopped for a minute to catch his breath. He answered, “I need to see the Hokage; please take me to her.”  
Soon the monk was escorted to Tsunade’s office and then he told of what became of Chiriku and that two members of the Akatsuki were on the move.  
“I see, even the great Chiriku has been killed,” Tsunade mused.  
“I happened to be on patrol around the temple and when I came back, the temple was destroyed,” the monk explained somberly.  
Tsunade bowed her head in thought and clasped her hands together.  
Shizune then said, “So they are here, and most likely their next target is Naruto.”  
Tsunade then orderd, “Gather the newly appointed squads immediately! We mustn’t let them escape the Land of Fire!”  
Meanwhile, with Ino and Shikamaru; they had left Naruto to rest and they were only walking together.  
Ino asked, “Do you think Naruto will be able to create a new technique before the Akatsuki come for him?”  
Shikamaru was silent for a minute but then he answered, “I’m worried for his safety too but with his determination, he was capable to make things that were impossible, possible. So he’ll be alright, after all, I watched him when he took the Chūnin exam and he did well. Even when Kurama helped him a little bit.”  
Ino looked up at him in surprise at the mention of Kurama, and then he added, “Yeah, Naruto told me about him, though I never thought that Biju had names; Kurama said the other Biju had names too.”  
Ino only nodded in response and asked, “Did he say what their names are?”  
Shikamaru shook his head and answered, “No, he wouldn’t say but one day, Naruto may know them later.”  
Then Ino said, “I see, maybe they’re just a bit secretive…”  
She was cut off as an ANBU suddenly appeared in front of them and said, “Shikamaru Nara, you are requested by the Hokage along with the rest of the Niju Shotai to come to the Hokage Tower immediately.”  
Shikamaru nodded and answered, “Got it.”  
Shikamaru turned to Ino and said to her, “I have to go Ino, thanks for lunch.”  
He was about to rush off to his house until he heard Ino shout, “Shika, wait!”  
He stopped and turned towards her, “Yes?”  
Ino walked to him and then enveloped him in a tight hug with her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear, “Come back safe, Shika.”  
He smiled as he returned the hug and replied, “I’ll be back, Ino. Don’t worry about me.”  
She broke the hug and then swiftly gave him a peck on the cheek, causing the both of them to blush. But then Shikamaru gave Ino a small smile and then rushed home. Ino smiled as well but then she frowned because the Nijū Shōtai was supposed to be sent to find Akatsuki; to capture them or kill them. She knows this because Sakura had told her how she was in the same group.  
“I just hope he’ll be okay,” Ino thought as she went to her home as well.

Soon, on top of the Hokage Tower, Tsunade, Shizune and the monk stood before twenty platoons with Team Asuma among them.  
Tsunade was explaining the situation to them, “Akatsuki have been at the Fire Temple where they killed many monks there. They are in the Fire Country and they’re on the move. Your job is to find them and that’s all I have to say. Any questions?”  
At the front of the platoons, Asuma raised his hand, and Tsunade asked, “What is it, Asuma?”  
He asked, “I believe that Chiriku, a former member of the Twelve Ninja Guradians, was supposed to be there. What happened to him?”  
Tsunade then looked sad as she looked over to the monk.  
The monk answered, “Chiriku-sama… was killed by them.”  
Asuma had looked shocked but then his face hardened as he thought, “Chiriku was… No way!”  
This change in demeanor didn’t go unnoticed by Shikamaru since he stood right behind Asuma.  
Then Tsunade said with authority, “For the sake of Konoha’s prestige, and above all else, the safety of the Fire Country, we can’t allow these people to move freely! I also want to know what they are after, but these are dangerous opponents. Do not let them leave the country! Find them no matter what! And if you can’t capture them, kill them! Dismissed!”  
Then all twenty platoons took off in different directions out of Konoha.One platoon went through the gates; it consisted of Aoba, Raido, Sakura and Chouji in it.  
As Sakura ran along with the others, she thought back to how she and Ino fought against Sasori and that if he was strong; then there were others strong as or stronger than Sasori.  
With determination, she thought, “I won’t back down from this, I’ve fought against one Akatsuki” member already, then I can do it again! I won’t let my teammates down!”  
Chouji was having similar thoughts, “I’ll give it my all, Shikamaru, Asuma-sensei!”  
Another group was Asuma, Shikamaru, Izumo and Kotetsu; they were standing on top of a building.  
“All right,” Shikamaru mumbled.  
Then Asuma said, “Let’s start our search from the Fire Temple.”  
He paused for a moment, watching a window with flowers in front of it. He added, “Somebody’s gotta do it. Let’s go!”  
On the other side of the window of the house, we see Kurenai sitting at a table reading a book. She looks out her window for a moment, only to see no one there.  
As Asuma’s squad headed towards the Fire Temple, Shikamaru was right by Asuma and he got his attention, “Asuma-sensei…”  
Asuma then looked over at him and asked, “What is it?”  
Then Shikamaru said, “It sounded like you knew this Chiriku person from the Fire Temple.”  
Asuma answered, “Yeah. Didn’t I tell you? We use to fight together. This was back when I left Konoha and joined a group called the Twelve Ninja Guardians.”  
Then he paused for a moment and then added, “The Fire Temple is close, let’s get there.”  
Back in Konoha, Naruto was waking up. He slowly opened his eyes and he saw that he was underneath a tree with his shirt and jacket back on.  
“Naruto-kun…” a quiet voice beside him made him turn his head.  
Hinata was sitting beside him while Kakashi and Yamato were nowhere to be seen.  
“Hinata, what are you doing here? Where is Kakashi-Sensei and Yamato-taichou?” Naruto asked.  
She answered, “Kakashi-sensei said that he had something he needed to do. I was training around this area, but he kind of came out of nowhere and asked me to keep you company. Then he left while he kind of dragged the other man with him.”  
“I see, he left my training to go somewhere else,” Naruto sulked.  
“Not necessarily, he said that he’d be back soon,” Hinata replied.  
Naruto sighed, “Yeah, but ‘soon’ to me translates to two hours. How long was I out?”  
“Kakashi-sensei said only half an hour when he brought me here to wait until you woke up,” she explained.  
“Oh, it must have been boring for you huh?” Naruto asked.  
Hinata shook her head, “No, not really, I was just-” A stomach growl interrupted her.  
Naruto laughed in embarrassment, “Sorry, I haven’t eaten all day and I guess I’m really hungry.”  
Hinata replied, “I see, well do you want to eat? We could go to Ichiraku Ramen if you want.”  
Naruto looked surprised but then answered, “Sure, but wouldn’t you like to eat something else?”  
“It’s okay, I don’t mind,” Hinata replied.  
“Well all right, let’s go eat,” Naruto got up from the ground and then helped her up as well.  
Then they walked to Ichiraku Ramen and had a good time where they ate and talked. Though, Naruto felt that being with Hinata felt different somehow; not a bad feeling but it was a feeling that made him feel good.  
He remembers that she acted weird when she was around him and he never really understood why, but now she seems to be a bit more comfortable with him.  
“I heard from Ino-san that you’re a Chūnin now, Naruto-kun,” Hinata commented.  
“Yeah, I had permission to participate by myself, so I’m a Chūnin!” Naruto replied.  
They kept talking until they heard, “There you are, Naruto.”  
Both Naruto and Hinata turned around in their seats to see Kakashi and Yamato at the entrance.  
“I was just finishing up some work and I had asked Hinata to keep you company. I can see that you were enjoying yourselves,” Kakashi said casually.  
“Yeah, I woke up and we came to eat here. Well, we were finished here, so we can get back to training, Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto replied.  
Then he turned back to Hinata and said, “Thanks for coming to eat with me Hinata, it was fun.”  
She smiled and replied, “I enjoyed myself as well, Naruto-kun.”  
Hinata was about to pay for her bowl but Naruto said, “Wait Hinata, I’ll pay for both of us.”  
Before she could object, he took the bill and paid Teuchi for her and for the three bowls he ate.  
“Naruto-kun, you didn’t have to pay for me,” Hinata mumbled.  
Naruto shook his head and explained, “I wanted to, it’s the least I could do for you for eating with me.”  
Hinata gave a small smile while she had a light blush in her cheeks, “You’re welcome, Naruto-kun.”  
Then Hinata went off while Naruto left Ichiraku Ramen with Kakashi and Yamato.  
At the Fire Temple, Asuma’s team was right at the steps of the tempple’s gate…  
An old monk and a younger monk came out of the temple to greet them. The younger monk asked, “You are all from Konoha, correct?”  
Asuma answered, “Yes, we came here to investigate about Akatsuki.”  
The older monk then spoke, “I’m Juushoku of the Fire Temple. I was away for awhile, but when I heard of the horrors that had befallen the temple, I rushed back as quickly as I could.”  
He led them to the temple as he explained, “What you see here is what I returned to.”  
The inside of the temple was partly destroyed; coffins lay all around them in the large open area.  
“The monks from nearby temples have helped recover most of the bodies,” Juushoku explained further.  
Shikamaru muttered, “This is horrible.”  
Then Asuma asked, “And where is Chiriku?”  
The younger monk solemnly explained, “Chiriku-sama’s body was the only one we haven’t been able to recover.”  
“Asuma-taichou…” Izumo inputted hesitantly.  
Asuma turned to Izumo as he continued, “I really didn’t want to bring this up but Chiriku-san’s corpse has a three million ryo bounty on the black market.”  
“Bounty? Then if they knew about the bounty…” Shikamaru implied while Asuma nodded in agreement.  
Shikamaru then added, “An exchange point; they’re carrying his body there.”  
Then Kotetsu asked, “Izumo, where is the exchange point?”  
Izumo answered, “There are five, including the closest to us.”  
Then Izumo sent out five carrier pigeons, with messages to the other groups and one was sent back to Konoha and then he said, “The other platoons should reach the rest of the four locations in no time.”  
Then Asuma announced, “All right, let’s move out.”  
Then Juushoku stopped them, “Please wait, Srutobi Asuma-dono. Allow me to pray for your group’s safety.”  
Asuma smiled, “Go ahead.”  
Then Juushoku brought his hands together and chanted a prayer while the other bowed their heads in silence.  
After the prayer was finished Juushoku said, “Be safe on your mission.”  
Asuma replied, “Thank you. I’ll at least return Chiriku’s body.”  
“No don’t push yourself. As a former fellow member of the Twelve Ninja Guardians, there will surely be a price on your head as well. Please be cautious.” Juushoku warned.  
Asuma smiled and said, “Don’t worry about me. My head is worth five million more than Chiriku’s.”  
Shikamaru smirked and then added, “The only thing you would have to worry about is Asuma smoking too much.”  
Then they left the temple and headed to the nearest exchange point, unknowingly going the same way as Hidan and Kakuzu.  
With Hidan and Kakuzu, Hidan was annoyed.  
“I’m really getting fed up with the shit that keeps coming out of your mouth. I haven’t traveled in forever, and when I finally get a chance, they put me with a jackoff like you…” Hidan complained.  
Kakuzu sneered, “We’re not on vacation.”  
Hidan ignored the comment and continued to complain, “I’m already sick of looking for a Jinchūriki, when we have no idea where it is, and now I’m getting dragged on this retarded side job. I think I deserve a little sympathy here!”  
Kakuzu retorted, “Just shut the hell up and keep walking. We’re already late.”  
Hidan growled, “We’re late because we’re going to your stupid exchange point! You keep making this mission longer and longer. Seriously, it’s pissing me off.”  
Then Kakuzu suddenly stopped and Hidan stopped behind him as well.  
Kakuzu then said, “Pissing you off? This is a vital mission, too.”  
“Yeah, yeah, you’re the treasurer or whatever. Admit it, that chump change is what you’re charging them to help hunt the Biju,” Hidan replied with a smirk.  
Then without a reply Kakuzu kept walking causing Hidan to scoff in annoyance, but then he said, “Okay, I’m sorry.”  
Then he added as he walked, “Hey, that corpse is heavy right? Let me take it off your hands for awhile.”  
Kakuzu asked, “What are you going to do with my valuable bounty?”  
Confused, Hidan replied, “I’m just trying to be nice…”  
Kakuzu stated, “You’d throw him away.”  
“What the hell are you talking about?” Hidan asked.  
“I see right through you; this body is nuisance and you want to get rid of it.” Kakuzu answered.  
Hidan laughed, “Ah shit, you got me. But seriously, dump that thing and we can-”  
Kakuzu swung his fist behind him while Hidan stopped his fist with his scythe, a clanking sound echoing off of it.  
Hidan smirked in triumph, “Gotcha.”  
Kakuzu growled, “Lousy son of a bitch…”  
But then he lowered his fist and continued walking ahead of Hidan.  
“Hey. You’re done?” Hidan asked in disappointment.  
“I don’t have time to mess around with you. But someday, our mission will be complete, and my schedule will be wide open. And then I’ll send you straight to hell.” Kakuzu promised.  
Hidan sighed, “There you go again…” He strapped his scythe to his back and walked on.  
He added, “I really wish the next guy we fight lasts long enough for me to let loose on him; I really need to vent.”  
So they went along to the exchange point, unbeknownst to them the impending resistance coming their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks to it.


	18. Ch. 17: Bounties and Sacrifices Part 2

At the training grounds, Naruto was with Kakashi and Yamato. Kakashi had said that he had something cool to show him.  
Naruto asked, “Kakashi-sensei, what did you want to show me?”  
Kakashi replied, “This is the really cool thing I wanted to show you; watch carefully.”  
He held his hand out with the palm up while his other hand held his wrist. Then chakra was swirling around in his hand into a familiar technique that shocked Naruto; Kakashi had formed a Rasengan in his hand.  
Naruto exclaimed, “No fair! Rasengan has always been my ultimate technique, but you can do it so easily?”  
Kurama interrupted, “Naruto, I think you ought to be quiet! He’s just giving a demonstration. So listen up!”  
Naruto winced as Kurama’s voice had echoed in his head.  
Kakashi explained, “This was just a starting point of what I wanted to tell you, Naruto; I didn’t show you Rasengan just to brag about it. I told you before that Rasengan is a technique that only uses shape manipulation, remember?”  
Naruto nodded his head in acknowledgement.  
Kakashi continued, “Then I showed you a technique that uses nature manipulation; by which I mean Chidori. This technique not only uses nature manipulation to turn my chakra into lightning, but it also uses shape manipulation to transform it into an electrical surge, thereby determining its range and power.”  
Then Yamato added, “By using shape and nature manipulation, a shinobi’s attack power increases tenfold.”  
Kakashi then continued, “Although shinobi who can use both together are pretty rare. Since you have strengthened your control of wind-natured chakra and have mastered the ultimate shape manipulation; you can use both.”  
Naruto then smiled and declared, “I’ll have my new technique in no time! I’ll bet this will be the easiest part!”  
Kakashi chuckled, “If it was, I wouldn’t have bothered creating Chidori.”  
Naruto looked at him in confusion and then Kakashi created another Rasengan in his hand.  
He explained, “I was never able to combine Rasengan with lightning-natured chakra.”  
Then Yamato inputted, “You need incredible skill to combine nature and shape manipulation, though perhaps “innate ability” or “sense” would be more accurate.”  
Kakashi’s Rasengan dissipated as he explained, “I’m not the only one who had to stop here, even my teacher, who created this technique, couldn’t progress further.”  
“Teacher?” Naruto questioned.  
“Yes, even the Fourth Hokage couldn’t do it.” Kakashi explained.  
Then he added, “The Fourth took shape manipulation to the highest possible level, the result was Rasengan, an A-rank technique achieved purely through shape manipulation. Up to that level even I managed to copy it but that’s also when things get difficult. The Fourth originally developed Rasengan intending to combine it with his elemental chakra.”  
“Then, you mean Rasengan is an incomplete technique?” Naruto asked.  
Yamato answered, “That’s a good way to put it.”  
Kakashi then added, “There’s no telling what the next step will produce. It could be S-rank level, maybe higher. It may even be impossible.”  
He paused before continuing, “This part can’t be taught; this is something that you have to work on yourself.”  
Then he asked, “Do…Do you know why I’m telling you all this, Naruto?”  
Naruto didn’t answer so then Kakashi stated with an eye smile, “Because you’re the only shinobi who can surpass the Fourth; that’s what I believe.”  
Naruto stood there in surprise as Kakashi said, “Well then, let’s continue with training shall we?”  
Both he and Yamato walked away from Naruto to give him more room.  
“Well done, Kakashi-san, you really are smooth talker,” Yamato commented.  
Kakashi disagreed, “Not really, I was telling the truth.”  
Naruto then shouted, “Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”

With Asuma’s team, they were still on their way to the exchange point.  
Then Shikamaru decided to ask, “Asuma-sensei, what kind of relationship did you have with Chiriku?”  
Asuma replied with a question of his own, “Why do you ask?”  
“You’re a chain smoker and you haven’t had a puff in two days. You only stop smoking when something’s bothering you,” Shikamaru answered.  
Asuma chuckled, “You’re getting good; I must be going soft if you can see right through me.”  
“Getting good? I can read you like a book when we play shougi. It’s just… I haven’t seen you like this since the Third passed away,” Shikmaru explained.  
At first, Asuma didn’t reply but then he answered, “You know that Chiriku and I were both in the Twelve Ninja Guardians right?”  
He paused, and then replied, “Now that I think about it… I’d say we were like you and Chouji.”  
Shikamaru let the information sink in and then he said, “If that’s the case, I hope you never quit smoking.”  
“Never quit, huh? I probably never will at this rate,” Asuma quipped.  
Then he said, “Shikamaru, I appreciate your concern but I didn’t quit smoking because of Chiriku. But keep in mind that these Akatsuki had killed Chiriku; which means they have incredible powers, so stay focused!”  
So then they continued on their way towards the exchange point.  
Meanwhile, Kakuzu and Hidan came upon a building along the road they’ve been traveling on.  
Kakuzu walked towards it as Hidan called out, “Hey, where the hell are you going?”  
“The bathroom?” Hidan questioned to himself, and then said to Kakuzu, “Fine, wait up.”  
Kakuzu went into the men’s room, walking past a few urinals until he stopped in front of the wall and then put his free hand on it. This caused a secret door to open, surprising Hidan.  
Kakuzu explained, “This is the exchange point.”  
“Why the hell would they pick a bathroom?!” Hidan growled.  
Then a man with a scar at his head came to them at the door and then said, “This way, please.”  
They all went into the secret room and Kakuzu put Chiriku’s corpse on a table while the man was looking through a book to confirm if it really is Chiriku.  
Then he confirmed it, “There’s no mistaking it; that is Chiriku. You’ve caught yourself a big one, Kakuzu-san.”  
Kakuzu agreed, “Yeah.”  
Then the scarred man brought out a briefcase and handed it to Kakuzu. Then Kakuzu opened it to reveal that it was full of money.  
Hidan complained, “This place reeks! Let’s go already, Kakuzu!”  
Kakuzu replied, “Wait a bit, I have to count the money.”  
Then Hidan complained again, “I can’t tell if the stench is from the urine or that body but seriously it’s gross! I’m going back outside!”  
Then Hidan went outside to wait on the steps of the building while Kakuzu was inside counting the money. Hidan had brought his sleeve to his nose and smelled it.  
Disgusted, he said, “I only spent about five minutes in there and my clothes get soaked with the stench!”  
Then he heard footsteps from behind him and then he said, “Took you long enough, Kakuzu.”  
But it wasn’t Kakuzu; Hidan turned in alarm to see Asuma standing behind him. Asuma threw a few shuriken at Hidan but then Hidan pulled out the wire of his scythe to deflect them and then he maneuvered the scythe to try to land a hit on Asuma but it only had hit into the cement of the steps. Suddenly, Izumo and Kotetsu came up on both sides of Hidan and stabbed him with their weapons.  
While Shikamaru was on top of the building, holding Hidan in place with his shadow, he shouted in triumph, “You’re too slow!”  
Asuma then stated, “That’s one down.”  
But then, to their shock, Hidan muttered, “Man, that hurts! What the hell’s your problem?”  
“What’s going on? We hit his vital organs!” Kotetsu exclaimed.  
Then Hidan snapped, “Stop shaking them, damn it! It hurts like a bastard!”  
Izumo questioned, “Is he immortal?”  
Hidan replied, “Isn’t it obivious? Now, who the hell are you people?” Hidan turned his attention to Asuma and then saw the sash around his waist.  
Then he remarked, “That sash, it belongs to those Ninja Guardians!”  
But then he sighed exasperatedly, “Oh damn it! Now I would have to go back into that collection office again!”  
Asuma then glared at Hidan as he thought of his late friend, Chiriku but then he answered Hidan’s previous question, “We are shinobi from Konoha; we were ordered to either capture or exterminate Akatsuki. Since you work in two-man teams; we had planned to capture one while we eliminated the other.”  
Then Asuma brought out his trench knives as he added, “But you have some serious abilities.”  
Shikamaru watched as he thought, “So this is an Akatsuki! What an insane ability!”  
Hidan chuckled, “Well, you messed up on that order.”  
“Where is your partner?” Asuma demanded.  
The answer came with a sudden crashing sound of stone breaking at the top of the building where Shikamaru was. Shikamaru had avoided Kakuzu, causing him to release his technique on Hidan but then Asuma rushed in front of Shikamaru and blocked Kakuzu from attacking again.  
Asuma shouted, “Kotetsu, Izumo, fall back!”  
Then all four of them gathered in a group as Kakuzu murmured, “So that man in the front is… It seems that you’ve struck gold, Hidan.”  
Hidan then pulled his scythe back to him as he replied, “Kakuzu, stay out of my way! I’ll use them for my ceremony; the money is all yours.”  
Shikamaru was watching their opponents as he thought, “Kakuzu and Hidan, huh?”  
Kakuzu then replied, “Fine. Just be careful, or you’ll die.”  
While he was moving his feet, drawing with his blood, Hidan scoffed, “If they could kill me, I’d let them. But that’s not possible.” After he was finished, it was shown that he drew a triangle within a circle.  
Asuma turned to Shikamaru and said, “I’m going to face him. Shikamaru, find a way to trap the immortal guy with your shadow-stitching. When you catch you him; I’ll slice his head off.”  
Shikamaru retorted, “That’s too risky; it’s not like you.”  
Kotetsu interjected, “I’ll go in with you.”  
Asuma then shouted angrily, “Don’t you understand?! This is the best plan we have right now!!”  
Shikamaru then thought to himself, “I’ve never seen Asuma like this before.”  
Asuma explained further, “They’re a hell of a lot stronger than me. Izumo, Kotetsu, you two help Shikamaru against the other Akatsuki.”  
Izumo objected, “But since we have an idea of our enemy’s strength; wouldn’t it be better if we etreat and form a plan?”  
Asuma retorted, “It’s not like they’ll let us walk away. If we don’t stand and fight now, we’ll be killed and then Konoha will be at even greater risk. Sometimes you have to be able to make such a move as this.”  
Shikamaru looked at Asuma grimly and then stated, “You’re not cut out to be the Climbing Silver.”  
Asuma chuckled, “I won’t be a sacrificial piece; not with you by my side.”  
Then they heard Hidan shout, “You done with your strategy planning over there?”  
He pulled out one of the blades he’d been impaled with and exclaimed, “Getting stabbed like that hurts! God will smite assholes like you who don’t understand the pain of others.”  
Then Shikamaru knelt down on the ground and Asuma took his fighting stance. Then Asuma charged at Hidan with Shikamaru’s shadow following after him. Hidan kept throwing his scythe to try to hit Asuma but at the same time he held on to the winding wire of the scythe to keep away from Shikamaru’s shadow on the ground. Asuma kept dodging the scythe but couldn’t get a hit on Hidan nor could Shikamaru trap him, but then he had an idea.  
Shikamaru asked the older Chūnin, “Can you two help me with something?”  
Then Hidan shouted, “You guys are too desperate! You are using attacks that have the highest probability of landing. I see right through you!”  
“And you mess around too much when you fight, Hidan!” Kakuzu commented.  
But then Izumo and Kotetsu threw shuriken at Hidan from the front while Asuma threw one at Hidan’s back.   
Shikamaru shouted, “You won’t escape this time!”  
But Hidan merely stated, “Then I won’t dodge.” So he kept running forward, letting the shuriken hit him.  
Shikamaru scoffed in frustration, “Unstoppable bastard.”  
Then Hidan yelled, “I’ll kill off the brat first!” He pulled his scythe back to him and ran towards the three Chūnin, intent to target Shikamaru, while Izumo and Kotetsu guarded him.  
“You’re fighting me!” Asuma shouted.  
But Hidan threw the other blade at Asuma and back-flipped to maneuver the scythe, hitting Asuma close to his check bone, his blood spilling on the middle blade of the scythe. Then Hidan grabbed the handle of the scythe and brought the blade close to his mouth.  
Asuma spun released his trench knives out of his hands to spin freely in front of him, while forming a few hand seals.  
He grabbed his knives again and then shouted, “Katon: Haisekishō!”  
Then he blew ash out of his mouth, covering the area in a haze. Hidan had licked the blood off of the scythe and then stopped in the middle of the ash cloud. Then Asuma ignited the ash with the clicking of his teeth, causing the ash cloud to turn into an inferno, engulfing Hidan within the blast…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks in it.


	19. Ch. 18: Bounties and Sacrifices Part 3

The blasts of flames were still going while the three Chūnin watch in trepidation, whether or not that Hidan was injured or not. The ash cloud began to disperse and finally, they see Hidan kneeling with his right arm blocking his head. Only they noticed something different about Hidan, his skin became black and had white on his skin representing a skeleton.  
Hidan murmured, “Hurts, doesn’t it? God has judged you.”  
Asuma dropped one of his blades as he trembled in pain from a burn on his right arm and his face was burned as well. The others were shocked to see that Asuma was burned as well.  
Izumo asked in surprise, “What’s going on?!”  
Then they heard Hidan say, “Do you get it now? Do you understand what it means to suffer?”  
Asuma clutched his right arm and thought, “He got my arm as well? This must be one of his techniques. But how?!”  
Hidan continued as he stood up, “You’re already under my curse. Now the ceremony can begin.”  
He chuckled maliciously and then declared, “Now… We’ll suffer the unfathomable pain together!”  
He brought his arm away from his face and revealed that he had a skull design on his face, giving him a frightening appearance.  
Izumo asked in confusion, “Why did Asuma-taichou get burned, too? Didn’t his fire technique hit the enemy?”  
Kotetsu answered, “Yeah, it definitely hit him. But for some odd reason, it hit Asuma-taichou, too!”  
Shikamaru glared and mumbled, “You’re kidding me.”  
“This’ll make another 35 million ryou for us,” Kakuzu noted.  
Then Hidan laughed maniacally and then pulled out another weapon, “I’ve got everything set up! Get ready, this is gonna hurt like hell!”  
Asuma spun his other blade in his uninjured hand and then gripped it, letting his chakra flow into his knife, the blue chakra forming into a longer blade. He walked slowly at first but then he charged forward to attack Hidan.   
But then Hidan yelled, “Take this!”  
He stabbed his own leg and then suddenly Asuma fell to the ground with his left leg bleeding.  
Hidan laughed again, “Hurts good doesn’t it? But it’s nothing like stabbing an organ! Man that is the best! As the other dies, their agony radiates through my body! And living through it is pur ecstasy!”  
He continued to laugh in his madness, in his version of joy; causing pain to others. Asuma was on the ground pressing his hand to his new wound in pain while he glared at Hidan.  
Then Asuma thought, “I see, he somehow linked our bodies together. In other words, if I attack him, I’ll get hurt too. But… he can’t be killed.”  
Hidan pulled out the spike out of his leg, causing Asuma’s leg to bleed more.  
Hidan laughed maniacally, “Where do you want it next?”  
He pointed to different places on his body, “Here? Or here? Getting it in both legs would be pretty sweet. Or…”  
He paused for moment before pointing the spike towards his heart, and then continued, “…should I end it now?!”  
Izumo shouted in alarm, “Shikamaru, don’t use Kage Nui on him! Use Kage Kibushibari to keep him from moving!”  
“I’m already on it!” Shikamaru replied.  
He extended his shadow towards Hidan, hoping that it would stop Hidan in time.  
Hidan raised his arm up and then shouted, “Die!”  
He brought his arm down quickly but then he abruptly stopped; Shikamaru caught him with his shadow, effectively stopping him.  
Hidan struggled to get out of the bind but Shikamaru strengthened his hold on him.  
“Izumo, how long has it been since you called for back-up?” Kotetsu asked.  
Izumo answered, “It’s only been ten minutes. It’ll take another twenty minutes for them to get here.”  
Kotetsu murmured, “I see. Damn it! What should we do? If we kill him, we kill Asuma-taichou as well.”  
“Techniques like this usually remain in effect until the user releases it or is killed, but it isn’t an option right now.”  
While Shikamaru was maintaining his technique, he thought, “Every technique has some kind of risk or some restrictions on it’s use. There’s gotta be a loophole. I’ve gotta calm down and analyze him carefully.”  
Then Kakuzu interrupted, “If it’s going to take much longer, I’ll kill them myself. I’m not letting all of that money get away.”  
Hidan yelled in annoyance, “Back off, Kakuzu! I can handle these guys myself!”  
So Kakuzu complied and then said to himself, “I suppose it’s only a matter of time.”  
Then he drew his attention to Shikamaru and watched him with interest, “That kid…”  
Shikamaru focused on Hidan, sorting out any bit of information he gained by watching him.  
He thought, “By watching Asuma, I’ve gathered tons of information! I just need to think!”  
He sorted out every bit of information on Hidan and gone over the sequence of events that had led up to that point. Until finally… He widened his eyes in realization.  
“Shikamaru’s got an idea,” Asuma thought.  
Izumo asked, “Did you figure something out, Shikamaru?”  
“Yeah,” Shikamaru answered.  
Then he said to Asuma, “Get ready, Asuma-taichou.”  
Then he slowly stood up and then moved backwards, causing Hidan to mimic him as well.  
Kakuzu silently noted, “That shadow technique forces the target to mimic the user’s movements…”  
Izumo asked, “What are you doing?”  
“I’m forcing him out of that weird diagram he drew on the ground,” Shikamaru answered.  
Then he added, “If I get him out, then his technique, that curse, will be negated!”  
Kotetsu asked, “What are you talking about?”  
Shikamaru explained further, “That big scythe has three blades on it. The design suggests that it is meant to broaden the attack area rather than deal a one-hit kill. It doesn’t matter if it’s a serious wound or a minor one; their only purpose is to draw blood. Basically, as long as he lands one attack, he can use that technique to kill his opponent.”  
Izumo asked, “But how are injuring the enemy and the curse related?”  
Shikamaru answered again, “The blood. In order to form a link with the person he wants to curse, he has to ingest that person’s blood.”  
Izumo and Kotetsu gasped in realization.  
“I saw him lick off the blood, too. I see, he needs to open a wound, get a little blood on his scythe, and use it to curse his opponent,” Izumo replied in understanding.  
Asuma listened to Shikamaru’s explanation determinedly as he explained more, “His body changed colors after he swallowed the blood, so that was easy to notice. But there’s more; there’s one other condition for activating the curse, but it was pretty obvious, too.”  
“There’s more?” Kotetstu asked.  
Kakuzu watched as Shikamaru was forcing Hidan out of his diagram. Impressed, he thought, “This kid’s pretty smart.”  
Then Shikamaru continued, “Earlier, he rushed over to that symbol on the ground even though it meant running through Asuma’s fire technique, remember? And as soon as he was standing inside the diagram, he said he was gonna start the ceremony and screamed about how everything was set up. I determined that his curse technique was only ready once he entered the circle.”  
Hidan growled, “You brat!”  
“It’s not my fault, that you talk too much,” Shikamaru retorted.  
Then Hidan shouted angrily, “You little brat! After I get free, I’m gonna slash, bash and smash your ass!”  
Shikamaru shouted back, “There won’t be an after for you!”  
Finally, Shikamaru got Hidan out of the symbol and shouted, “He’s out!”  
Then Asuma took out a shuriken and said, “Right! Let’s see if the curse has been lifted!”  
He threw the shuriken at Hidan and then it swept by his head, cutting his ear.  
But since they saw that it didn’t affect Asuma, Shikamaru thought, “All right!”  
He switched his technique to Kage Nui, the black tendrils piercing Hidan’s body, holding him in place.  
Shikamaru breathed heavily and then said, “I’m wiped out. I don’t think I can hold him much longer.”  
Asuma smiled and praised him, “Good job, Shikamaru.”   
He stood up and limped towards the incapacitated Hidan, his chakra extended off of his blade; surging.  
As Asuma got closer, Hidan called out, “Kakuzu, help me!”  
Kakuzu didn’t move, he only kept watching.  
Hidan shouted again, “Kakuzu, hurry up!”  
Asuma came in front of Hidan and then sliced Hidan’s head off with one swipe.  
Kakuzu stated bluntly, “I told you not to underestimate them.”  
Hidan’s necklace was cut off and fell to the ground along with his hitai-ate. His head had tumbled away off to the side from his body. Shikamaru relaeased his shadows and then let Hidan’s body fall backwards onto the ground, motionless. Shikamaru was breathing heavily, exhausted from using too much of his chakra. Then he fell to his knees from overexertion.  
Kotetsu asked in concern, “Shikamaru, are you okay?!”  
Shikamaru answered, “Yeah. Now there is just him left…”  
All of them looked over at Kakuzu, standing stoically.  
“If you needed a hand, you should’ve asked me earlier,” Kakuzu said.  
Then Hidan shouted, “Screw you and your slow ass! You let that happen!”  
In horror, Asuma and his team saw that Hidan was talking even when beheaded.  
Kakuzu replied, “I believe before this all started you said to me, “Just shut up and watch, Kakuzu!” Now as just a goddamned head, do you still think you can yell at me?”  
Hidan then look at where his head is and his situation and then admitted, “Okay, yes, I did tell you not to get involved But it’s not like I was trying to embarrass you or make you look bad. Whatever man, hurry and get my body!”  
Kakuzu furrowed his brow but then Hidan asked again, uncharacteristically polite, “Kakuzu, would you mind bringing my body over here? Kakuzu-chan, pretty please?”  
Then Kakuzu came to Hidan and grabbed his head by the hair.  
Hidan shouted in protest, “Cut it out! Kakuzu, my body! Bring my body here, damn it!”  
“Your head is lighter,” Kakuzu bluntly replied.  
Hidan then retorted, “You’re ripping my hair out!”  
Kakuzu replied, “If you’re going to whine about pain, at least complain about your neck.”  
Hidan growled, “You bastard! My neck isn’t even in the same league! This isn’t like a small cut, you asshole!”  
Asuma watched as he thought, “Even beheaded, he’s still alive?!”  
Then Hidan shouted at Asuma, “This hurts like hell! You cut my goddamned head off!”  
Izumo mumbled, “What the hell? What is this? There’s just no way to describe this…”  
Then Shikamaru stated, “It doesn’t matter if he’s still alive, not in that state. Without being attached to his body, he can’t move or use any techniques. He may be immortal, but in that condition he can’t do anything.”  
Kotetsu agreed, “That’s true. One down, one to go.”  
Shikamaru then tried to stand again but he was too exhausted and fell to his knees again. Asuma also wasn’t doing any better and had momentarily turned away from Kakuzu and thought of possibly escaping for everyone’s safety.  
But then Kakuzu murmured, “Don’t be naïve.”  
In a swift movement, he stomped on Asuma’s injured leg, and then slammed the case he was carrying against his head, causing him to fall to the ground. Kakuzu stood still for a moment and then jumped up high. As he came down, he kneed Asuma in the back, making Asuma cough up blood. Then he stopped moving; he became unconscious.  
Kotetsu shouted, “Asuma-taichou!”  
Shikamaru grit his teeth and had gripped the ground, making little indentations in the ground.  
Then Kakuzu went to Hidan’s body and grabbed the front of the cloak to hold it upright.   
He put Hidan’s head back on the shoulders and then said to him, “Now that you have asked for my help, I’m going to have to stay involved.”  
Hidan scoffed, “Whatever.”  
Kakuzu held Hidan’s head in place as a strange string wound into Hidan’s neck causing Hidan to hiss in pain. “Hold still, you baby,” Kakuzu reprimanded.  
Izumo asked in confusion, “What is he doing?”  
When Kakuzu was finished, he stood up along with Hidan as well.  
“His head…” Izumo started while Kotetsu finished the thought, “…got reattached!”  
Hidan cracked his neck while he said, “All back together again.”  
Kakuzu reminded him, “Watch the stitches, they’ll break if you move too much.”  
Then he added, “Your stupid ceremony is bad enough, but I’m sick of you dragging fights out with your blabbering. You take care of the bounty.”  
Then Hidan drew his attention to the unconscious Asuma and declared, “Right, I’m gonna get him back for what he did. I can’t go breaking the commandments, now can I?”  
Kakuzu replied, “That again? Whatever, I’ll take the other three.”  
Kotetsu shouted, “Izumo!”  
“Got it!” Izumo replied.  
Then Kotetsu pulled a scroll out of his vest pocket and unsealed a clam-like weapon. Kakuzu charged toward them just as Izumo and Kotetsu ran forward as well.  
Izumo shouted, “Suiton, Mizuame Nabara!”  
He spit out a clear, syrupy liquid onto the ground while Kotetsu channeled chakra to his feet and stepped onto the liquid. Kakuzu jumped backwards to avoid the liquid but then Kotetsu threw his weapon at him and that made a collision.  
Kotetsu asked, “Did we get him?”  
The dust cleared revealing Kakuzu unscathed and only a hole in the ground.  
“I assume this was a combo where you force the enemy to focus on the flashy aerial attack, creating an opening. Then you attack from the ground with this strange liquid. So simplistic, too much wasted movement,” Kakuzu noted, unimpressed.  
He brought his hands out, ready to attack but then a crash came from behind Kakuzu and Kotetsu’s weapon was brought back to him. Kakuzu tried to escape but since the liquid had flowed into the hole, it got Kakuzu from behind and he was stuck to the syrup trap.  
Kotetsu jumped up and came down towards Kakuzu, shouting, “You’re mine!”  
Kakuzu then brought his arms up and then, he shot out his hands that had been attached to strange black tendrils and one of his hands had grabbed Kotetsu by the throat and the tendrils had wrapped around his body.While his other hand had grabbed Izumo after Izumo tried to avoid it, Shikamaru could only watch as they were being choked.  
Then Kakuzu said to Hidan, “You’re wasting my time with your flailing.”  
“Looks like Kakuzu is done. I better finish up too. Otherwise, he’ll complain about my ritual taking forever,” Hidan said.  
He slowly walked towards Asuma and then raised the spike at him. He smirked in triumph as he said, “Bye.”  
Then Asuma opened his eyes and drove Hidan back with his chakra blade while he got scratched by Hidan’s spike in the shoulder. But then Hidan flung his scythe out and it had swung towards Asuma.  
Shikamaru shouted, “Asuma! Behind you!”  
Thanks to Shikamaru’s warning, Asuma was able to duck in time while the scythe had pierced Hidan’s lower abdomen instead, with blood trickling from his mouth. Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief seeing that it missed, while Asuma smiled wearily.  
“You can’t get me again with that same trick-” but Asuma abruptly stopped as he realized in horror where Hidan was standing; in his diagram.  
Slowly Hidan was smiling and then started laughing again, only it seemed to be more maniacal than before, he yelled, “It wasn’t the same, you retard!”  
Asuma was kneeling but then he clutched at the same place where Hidan was stabbed in pain and then he coughed up blood again. Kotetsu and Izumo watched helplessly while Shikamaru got up and tried to run to Asuma, to help him, but with no idea of how he could help. But then he tripped over his feet and can only watch as Hidan pulled out another spike weapon.  
Hidan laughed, “I’ll finally be able to experience the pain, the pain that comes with killing you!”  
He continues to laugh as he raises his weapon high above his head and then brings it down…  
“No!” Shikamaru desperately shouted.  
Hidan drove the spike through his own chest, near where his heart is. Asuma stared wide-eyed as he experiences the pain, coughing up more blood.  
Everyting seemed to slow down, Asuma was falling forward and Shikamaru watched as his eyes watered. He was running but he couldn’t get to him fast enough.   
Asuma fell forwards and lied motionless on the ground while his student cried out in distress, “Asuma!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my tweaks in it.


	20. Ch. 19: Asuma's Last Words

Previously,  
Everyting seemed to slow down, Asuma was falling forward and Shikamaru watched as his eyes watered. He was running but he couldn’t get to him fast enough.   
Asuma fell forwards and lied motionless on the ground while his student cried out in distress, “Asuma!!”  
Desperately, Shikamaru ran to where Asuma was but due to his exhaustion, he tripped and fell to the ground. While he was on the ground, he stretched out his hand towards his teacher.  
In despair, he mumbled, “Asuma…”  
Then Hidan’s skin turned back to normal and he pulled out the spike and his scythe out of his body.  
He said to Kakuzu, “I’m done here.”  
Kakuzu replied, “And I’m about finished here.”  
Kotetsu and Izumo were still immobilized; being in a chokehold by Kakuzu.  
Trembling with anger, Shikamaru slowly stood up again muttering, “Damn you…!”  
Then he shouted, “You son of a bitch!”  
Kakuzu saw him, so he used Izumo to hit Shikamaru and then had both skidding on the ground.  
Shikamaru thought helplessly, “Damn it! I’m so powerless!”  
But then he looked up and saw black feathers all around them. Then Kakuzu and Hidan were surrounded by crows obscuring their vision.  
Hidan shouted, “You think that you can stop us with these crows?”  
Kakuzu commented, “Trying to hinder our vision huh?”  
Then Raido came up close to Kakuzu with his sword out.  
“A black sword…” Kakuzu thought as he narrowly dodged the blade which caused him to let go of Kotetsu and Izumo. As Hidan and Kakuzu were distracted, Chouji got Asuma away from the fight and then jumped up onto the roof of the building.  
Then after Kakuzu let go of Kotetsu and Izumo, Sakura came yelling, “Shannarro!”  
She struck at Kakuzu and he blocked her punch even though it made him stagger a bit.  
Kakuzu commented to himself, “Inhuman strength for a girl.”  
When Chouji got Asuma on top of the building, Aoba said to him, “Keep your guard up, Chouji.”  
Then he controlled the crows to surround Hidan and Kakuzu and had the crows explode into a smokescreen, to block their vision. Then on the roof, Chouji looked down at Asuma in worry, he muttered, “Asuma-sensei…”  
Then Sakura helped Shikamaru up to the roof and then both knelt next to Asuma. Shikamaru put his ear to Asuma’s chest, listening for a sign of life, while his other teammates watched. Then he heard it, a weak heartbeat; indicating that he is alive.  
“It’s faint, but there’s a heartbeat!” Shikamaru thought.  
Then he said to his teammates, “Chouji, take Asuma-sensei to Konoha Hospital immediately! Sakura, accompany him and use your medical ninjutsu to heal him as much as you can! Hurry!”  
They both agreed but then Kakuzu jumped up on the roof and then he stated, “I’m not giving up my bounty.”  
“Shit!” Shikamaru cursed.  
Aoba then intervened, “We’ll deal with them while you guys get Asuma-san out of here!”  
Then Aoba engaged Kakuzu in taijutsu, while Hidan was left with Raido and Kotetsu.  
Then Hidan said to them, “You can struggle all you want, but in the end you’ll all be sacrificed to God! That’s why…”  
But then he stopped and Kakuzu seemed distracted as well.  
Hidan asked, as if he was talking to someone, “Can it wait a little longer? Seriously, we’re right at the best part.”  
Then somewhere far away from the Fire Country, on a building designed to look like a man, on the tongue of it, sat a man in Akatsuki robes, overlooking the buildings.  
“It’s time to seal the Nibi; that takes priority. Return immediately.” The man impatiently ordered.  
Hidan replied in annoyance, “Come on! All I’m asking for is like another minute!”  
“Knock it off, Hidan,” Kakuzu retorted.  
As everyone was watching them, they were all wondering the same thing, “Are they communicating with someone?”  
Then Kakuzu said to them, “We’ll be right back, make sure that you are ready.”  
Then the man that they were communicating with had stated, “You two really test my patience.”  
Kakuzu picked up Hidan’s hitai-ate and then said, “Let’s go, Hidan.”  
Hidan complained, “That stupid leader… Next time I’m cursing him!”  
Then Asuma coughed up more blood, alarming his students.  
Sakura cried, “Sensei!”  
“Asuma-sensei!” Chouji added.  
Shikamaru shouted, “Sakura, Chouji, hurry up and get Asuma out of here, now!”  
But Hidan yelled, “Hey! We told you to stay here until we get back! He’s about to die anyway!”  
Shikamaru grit his teeth in anger, while Hidan shouted crudely, “Later, bitches!”  
Then both Hidan and Kakuzu disappeared in a puff of smoke.  
Shikamaru lifted Asuma’s head off of the roof and hurriedly said, “Sakura, Chouji, get going!”  
“I’ll use my medical ninjutsu!” Sakura exclaimed.  
But then they heard a quiet voice mumur, “Don’t…”  
All three of them gasped in shock as they looked down at their teacher and then Asuma added, “I’m done for… Even I… can tell… You three should realize it too.”  
Shikamaru retorted, “Shut up! Don’t speak! Sakura!”  
“Right!” Sakura said as she moved to the other side of Asuma and started her medical ninjutsu. Her hands were glowing green and her brow was furrowed in concentration.  
Chouji asked nervously, “Sakura?”  
She moved her hands to find the injuries.  
“Here…” she thought as she found the spots and then moved her hands again and then thought, “And here too! They got four vital organs!”  
She was slightly trembling and had tears stinging the corners of her eyes as she thought in despair, “There’s nothing more I can do…”  
Shikamaru saw the sadness in Sakura’s expression and then closed his eyes in defeat.  
Asuma continued weakly, “I think I finally understand why the Third did what he did… But, like always, I took too long… to figure it out.”  
He coughed before adding, “Sakura, Chouji, Shikamaru… I have one last thing to tell you.”  
Chouji replied, “Sensei, you shouldn’t talk anymore…”  
“Chouji!” Shikamaru cut him off.  
“And Sakura,” he added.  
There was thunder rumbling in the distance as there was a small silence between the members of Team Ten.  
Shikamaru continued, “These are Asuma-sensei’s last words; just listen.”  
Asuma whispered, “Sakura…”  
Sakura answered, “Yes?”  
Asuma tilted his head towards her before saying, “You’re responsible, dependable, and courageous. You’ve certainly gained many abilities from Tsunade-sama. I daresay you will surpass her. Chouji and Shikamaru are total goof offs, keep them out of trouble.”  
Sakura started to have tears trickle down her cheeks as she answered, “I will.”  
Asuma added, “And never give up on your goals whether they are in ninjutsu or in love.”  
Shakily, Sakura replied, “I won’t.”  
Asuma lightly smiled at her before turning his attention to Chouji.  
Asuma murmured, “Chouji, you’re a kind man who cares for his comrades. That’s why… you’ll become a shinobi more powerful than anyone else. Have more confidence in yourself.”  
Chouji wiped some of his tears away from his eyes as he mumbled, “Yeah.”  
Then Asuma added, “And… maybe diet a little.”  
“That maybe too much but I’ll give it my best shot,” Chouji replied while trying to stop his tears.  
Asuma chuckled a bit and then he turned to Shikamaru last.  
“And Shikamaru. You’re so smart… and have great sense as a shinobi. You could definitely become Hokage. But… you’re too lazy…You’d probably hate it. I never even beat you at shogi… That’s right… Do you remember of our talk about the King?” Asuma mumbled.  
Shikamaru widened his eyes in recognition; it was what they had about before coming on this mission.  
Asuma continued, “I’ll tell you who it is; come closer.”  
Shikamaru brought his head down so that he can hear what Asuma was whispering in his ear. When Asuma finished, Shikamaru’s widened and he blurted out in shock, “Asuma! You… but-”  
“I’m counting on you, Shikamaru,” Asuma mumbled.  
Then he added, “It doesn’t matter now, does it? Even though I quit… They’re in my pouch; I want one last smoke…”  
Shikamaru then helped put the cigarette between Asuma’s lips and then used his lighter to light it. As the teenage shinobi watch their sensei in his final minutes, they remember the happy and fun memories that they all shared together. Sakura and Chouji were trying hard to hold back their tears while Shikamaru was silent and hadn’t cried at all. The cigarette had burned and then disentagrated, it slowly fell from Asuma’s lips, landing on the roof. Asumas’s eyes were lidded; showing them no signs of light in them. His breathing stopped, his last breath gone with the smoke that he breathed out. Asuma… was dead.  
“Asuma-sensei!!” Sakura cried in agony.  
She brought her head down to Asuma’s chest and cried her heart out. Chouji wasn’t any better; he muffled his sobs in his hand but no less in pain.  
Overhead of them, the rain poured down; perfect weather to represent the sadness of their loss.  
Raido covered Asuma’s head and upper body with his black cloak and said, “He died a true shinobi.”  
Shikamaru stood up and walked away from the group, clutching Asuma’s lighter in his hand. The smoke of the cigarette blew past his nose and he coughed but then he sniffled.  
“I really, really hate cigarettes,” he murmured.  
As the rain poured over him, you couldn’t tell that he was indeed crying and continued, “The smoke always makes my eyes water.”  
The group of shinobi had stayed there in silence, mourning the loss of a skilled shinobi, a teacher, a friend; Asuma Sarutobi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks in it.


	21. Ch. 20: Loss and Gain

Ino was in the flower shop taking care of arrangements and talking with customers. When it suddenly started to rain, not many people came in after that. Ino sat at the counter; bored out of her mind. But then her mind had drifted as she remembered that Shikamaru was out in the rain earlier. About three minutes ago, before the rain started, she suddenly felt something didn’t feel right. The rain unnerved her as it seemed to be an omen since it was sunny at first.  
“I hope Shikamaru is alright…” Ino thought as she saw that the rain stopped.  
Then she saw Sakura outside of the shop, slowly walking past, as if she was in no hurry but had a dejected look on her face.  
But she went to the entryway to call out to her, “Sakura!”  
Sakura snapped out of her stupor; she looked up at her but her eyes weren’t as bright as they usually are. They seemed dull, lifeless, and they seemed to be red and puffy.  
Ino had hoped to get information about Shikamaru and if he was okay. But she was more concerned about how one of her best friends looked sad.  
She led Sakura inside and brought a towel for Sakura to dry her hair, since she was a bit wet from the earlier rain. Sakura just received the towel and wordlessly started to dry her hair.  
Ino, who was bewildered that her friend was silent, she was almost afraid to ask what had happened. But she had to know, so she asked in a worry, “Sakura, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”  
Sakura went rigid at first, she stopped drying her hair, started to tremble and then finally, fell to her knees sobbing.  
Alarmed, Ino knelt down next to Sakura and tried to comfort her but she didn’t know what was wrong.  
“You’re shaking Sakura, what’s wrong?” Ino asked while rubbing her back.  
Sakura tried to answer but she couldn’t stop crying to even form a coherent sentence.  
Until finally, Sakura’s sobbing became quiet sniffles and then she answered in a shaky, raspy voice, “Ino, it’s horrible. Asuma-sensei…”  
Sakura stopped to wipe her eyes and then continued, “Asuma-sensei has been killed by the Akatsuki…”  
Ino’s eyes widened, she was speechless; just a few hours ago the Niju Shotai had been sent out but now they lost Asuma to the Akatsuki. Ino’s eyes started to water as she was on the floor hugging Sakura. She was taught by Asuma as well with Shikamaru and Chouji for their own Ino-Shika-Cho formation despite the team placements.  
Though she couldn’t help but think, “Is Shikamaru okay?”  
By the end of the day, every shinobi was notified of Asuma’s death, especially Kurenai, who was devastated by the news given by Shikamaru.  
The next day, the funeral was commencing in the morning and every shinobi was there to pay respect to Asuma Sarutobi. Kurenai had placed a bouquet of flowers that Ino had personally made for her to place on the grave marker.  
Among the crowd of shinobi, Konohamaru was crying as he shakily said in distress, “Asuma-oji-chan…”  
Naruto had his hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Ino had her eyes to the ground but then she searched the crowd; looking for Shikamaru. She hadn’t seen him since he left on his mission yesterday. She was standing near Sakura and Chouji and caught what Sakura whispered with Chouji.  
“Where’s Shikamaru?” Sakura asked.  
Chouji answered, “When I went to his house, his mother said that he had already left.”  
Ino frowned and sadly thought, “Poor Shika…”  
After the funeral, Ino had left to find Shikamaru, to see how he was. Since her mother was watching the shop, she could be out all day. So she looked for him everywhere, hoping to spot him. She went to the training grounds, she passed by Yakiniku Q and saw the woman who owned the restaurant and she said she had seen Shikamaru earlier but she didn’t know where he went to. So she tried at his favorite cloud watching spots; in a clearing surrounded by trees, on top of the Hokage Monument and finally she ended up at the same roof top with the bench where he first opened up to her about his failed mission and where she first saw him cry. She sat on the bench and let out a sigh before laying herself down on the bench with her hands clasped together on her stomach. She watched as the clouds drifted overhead and her mind wandered back to Shikamaru and how he must be feeling right now. Soon enough, her eyes drooped a bit since she had been running around all day and then she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Ino’s dream…  
Ino was standing in a familiar meadow and she saw her younger self picking wild flowers and enjoying herself. Then she saw that her younger self spot a little boy with a spiky ponytail, lying in the grass, hands behind his head and his eyes were closed. She smiled as her younger self run over to the sleepy boy and sat down next to him.  
Ino wondered, “Is this a regular dream or is this a memory?”  
She walked closer to the children and listened to what her six-year-old self was saying.  
Young Ino said irritably, “Shika, I know you are awake so listen to me when I’m talking to you!”  
Ino watched as the younger Shikamaru pouted but he opened his eyes anyway. Ino let out a small laugh as her younger self smiled triumphantly. Then she continued to listen to their conversation as young Ino ask, “Shika, why do you like to watch the clouds so much? They don’t do anything except move slowly across the sky.”  
Young Shikamaru looked over at her first, then shifted his gaze back up to the clouds again and then answered, “Because I want to be like a cloud; they let the wind blow them through the skies without a care in the world. I’d like to live through life without stress, that’s why I like watching clouds.”  
Young Ino looked confused and then inquired, “Why would you worry about that? We’re only six and you don’t have anything that would stress you out.”  
Young Shikamaru answered, “Maybe not right now but for the future when we’re shinobi, I’d rather live it easy than spend every day of my life doing troublesome things.”  
Ino retorted, “If we are shinobi, you’d actually have to do some difficult things for missions; you wouldn’t have time for a stress-free life. So why would you choose to be a ninja?”  
Shikamaru shrugged, “I don’t know, I guess it’s because my Dad is one and I never gave much thought about other occupations.”  
Ino shook her head and rebutted, “You’re just too lazy to even think about it.”  
Then they just sat in a comfortable silence until Ino quietly spoke again, “If you were a cloud, you’d probably be blown away. Do you mean that you’d leave in the future?”  
Shikamaru sighed, sat up and then replied, “Why would I leave the village? It’s my home and my friends and family are here.”  
Ino then said, “But say that you had to leave for long missions or maybe even dangerous ones. Would you come back?”  
Ino looked at Shikamaru with big, pleading, eyes and Shikamaru sighed.  
But then he answered, “Yes, I would.”  
Ino asked, “You promise?”  
Shikamaru nodded his head, “I promise.”  
Ino then extended her pinky finger and said, “Then promise with a pinky swear, this way you can’t back out of it.”  
Shikamaru sighed again but then agreed, “Fine.”  
He brought his pinky finger out and wrapped it around Ino’s, sealing their promise.  
Then she surprised him by hugging him and said, “And I promise that I’ll wait for you when you do get missions if you do the same for me.”  
Ino watched the young Shikamaru blush as he said in embarrassment, “Okay Ino, I promise, now let go of me.”  
Then the meadow started to fade and then Ino woke up as it was already dark out but it wasn’t too late.  
With renewed determination, Ino got up from the bench set out to Shikamaru’s house, since he should be home by now. She ran and ran until she reached his house and then knocked on the door after she caught her breath. After a few knocks, Shikamaru’s mother, Yoshino answered the door.  
“Ino… Dear, what are you doing here?” Yoshino asked.  
Ino answered, “Yoshino-ba-san, I know it’s late and I shouldn’t be out but I want to talk to Shikamaru. Is he home?”  
Yoshino looked sad as she replied, “Yes, he is with Shikaku in the back room. My poor son, he was quiet all day; but more solemn than usual.”  
Yoshino let Ino in and she found the hallway that led out to a pond but there was a room back there as well. As she quietly made her way to the room she heard Shikaku speak, “As your father, I’m proud of you. I know that you wouldn’t be so reckless as to get yourself killed. I wouldn’t want to attend my son’s funeral.”  
She stopped and strained her ears to hear shogi pieces clacking on the board. Then she heard Shikaku say, “But… Asuma is dead.”  
Then there was a crash and she was surprised as she heard the shogi pieces and the board hitting the floor. And she also saw as the light that lit the room had gone out; leaving the room with only the light of the moon filtering through.  
Then she heard Shikamaru ask in an angry tone, “What are you getting at?”  
Shikaku replied, “I’m just speaking my mind.”  
She heard shuffling and she assumed that Shikamaru was standing.   
Then she heard him say, “Your prattling is making me sick to my stomach! I’m nothing but a useless coward!”  
Shikaku replied, “No…”  
The she heard Shikamaru ask angrily, “Then what is it?!”  
Ino stood there in the hallway, just out of sight and she anxiously waited for someone to speak.   
Until she heard Shikaku answer, “Let it out.”  
Then it seemed to be deathly quiet for about five seconds before Shikaku continued, “Let out all the sadness, fear and anger that is building up inside you.”  
Then she heard slight shaky breathing and then Ino heard Shikaku say, “That’s the first step…”  
Then she saw Shikaku come out of the room and slide the door closed just as she heard Shikamaru’s cry of despair.  
Shikaku whispered, “I’ll pick up the pieces.”  
Shikaku walked towards where Ino was standing and he stopped in front of her for a minute, before quietly saying, “He may not say so, but I think that he needs you most right now. Don’t stay out too long.”  
Ino nodded and walked past him to go to her distraught best friend. She slid the door open, ran right to Shikamaru and wrapped her arms around his waist. His sobbing stopped, he went rigid and he saw that Ino was suddenly with him, hugging him.  
Despite his tears he asked in a hoarse voice, “What are you doing here, Ino?”  
Ino answered, “I had looked everywhere for you since you weren’t at the funeral. I wanted to help you, so please don’t go through this alone.”  
At first, Shikamaru didn’t move but then he gripped Ino into a tight embrace and he buried his face into her shoulder. She felt Shikamaru tremble and his sobs were muffled into her shoulder but were still loud. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she had never seen Shikamaru like this; so broken and vulnerable. Then she felt his knees buckle so she lowered herself down to the floor so they could sit down.  
She didn’t know how long they stayed like that only that it came to the point where she was sitting on her knees but she started to feel a little uncomfortable. But she wouldn’t move since Shikamaru was still gripping her so tightly but not to the point where she couldn’t breathe. She rubbed his back slowly until she heard his sobs start to recede. He loosened his grip and he pulled away from her. The tears had left behind a trail and his eyes were red. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and then slowly looked up at Ino. Ino wiped her eyes as well and adjusted so that she wasn’t sitting on her knees.  
Then she whispered to him, “I know that anything I say might not make you feel better. But I’m sure that you had done your best to help Asuma-sensei… He would have been proud of you.”  
He lowered his gaze and murmured, “My ‘best’ wasn’t enough, and he’s dead because of me.”  
Ino sadly retorted, “Shikamaru, you know that’s not…”  
“It is true!” Shikamaru cut her off.  
Ino was shocked; in all of the years she’s known him, not once had he raised his voice at her.  
He continued, “If I had just thought of a better plan or if I had been stronger, he never would’ve died; I wasn’t strong enough to do anything! I had to watch Asuma facing against the Akatsuki member that inflicted wounds on him. I was weak; I was of no use to anybody!”  
Ino knows that it is something that that he needed to vent but the self-loathing that Shikamaru was expressing was increasingly getting to be too much.  
Ino tried to say, “Shika-”  
She was cut off again, “It is my fault, Ino! Asuma would still be here if it weren’t for me! If it weren’t for me, Asuma wouldn’t have sacrificed himself! If I had been the one to face them, to get in close instead, Asuma would still be here! Everyone would be better off if I was the one who was killed!”  
A deafening crack echoed throughout the room, Ino’s hand had swiftly swept across Shikamaru’s cheek causing it to turn red. Shikamaru was silent and looked bewildered, he slowly turned his head forward to look at Ino.  
As angry tears threatened to leak from her eyes, she scolded him, “Shikamaru, that’s enough. Don’t ever say that your life is meaningless, because all lives matter. Was it fair that Asuma-sensei died? No. Was it your fault that he’s dead? Of course not! But you and I both know what these missions are like and that the Akatsuki are not a group to be underestimated. I mean look at me; I could’ve died when Sakura and I fought against Sasori. It was only thanks to Elder Chiyo that I’m even alive. Asuma-sensei fought against them bravely and you helped back him up.”  
She paused to take a deep breathe to calm herself before continuing, “He had fought them because it was his choice and he wouldn’t want you to beat yourself about this, right?”  
Shikamaru looked down at the floor but she could tell that he understood what she was saying. Ino brought her hands to frame his face and tilted his head up for him to look at her.  
Then she spoke gently, “Shika, you are not a coward; you are one of the bravest shinobi I know. You are far from useless because you can plan out every step to execute a plan flawlessly. If something stumps you, you are able to figure out the enemies’ plan and can stop it effectively. Shika, do you really think yourself so insignificant that you don’t value your own life?”  
She could tell that he was listening intently because he was silent and didn’t answer.  
So she continued, “You don’t think that you would be missed? That’s not true; everyone would miss you. Your parents would, Chouji would miss you, you are his best friend, Sakura, Naruto, and every one of our friends would miss you.”  
The tears then started to trickle down her cheeks and she added with her voice breaking, “Especially me… I always worry about you when you are out on missions. If it had been you who was killed, I don’t know what I would do. To me, you’re irreplaceable and important that I feel that a part of me would be missing. So don’t ever say that you don’t matter, because you do matter. To everyone… to me…”  
Then she brought her hands up to her eyes and was overwhelmed with emotion that she hid her face in them. She let out a few sniffles before she felt her hands being pulled away from her face. She looked at Shikamaru as he had brought his hands to hold her face and wiped the tears from her face.  
He whispered soothingly, “I’m sorry; I was angry at myself and lashed out at you. You’re right; Asuma wouldn’t want me to be like this.”  
Then he wrapped his arms around her and brought her close to him in an embrace.  
“Thank you, Ino, for being here with me,” he added.  
Ino returned the embrace as well as she could, given that they were both sitting on the floor. Then she pulled away a bit and gave him a small smile to which he gave a weary half-smile in return.   
She saw that there was a bruise forming on his cheek and replied, “Your welcome, and I’m sorry for slapping you.”  
Shikamaru shook his head and disagreed, “No, I needed it.”  
Ino brought her hand to his cheek and it started to glow green, healing the bruise.  
“You don’t need the bruise, so I’ll heal it,” Ino offered.  
Shikamaru mumbled, “Thanks, Ino.”  
Ino replied, “Anytime…”  
Ino healed the bruise but her hand lingered on his cheek. They locked gazes, and at this point, even she didn’t know what happened. Her hands framed his face and then she leaned in closer to him. Then she closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his for a few seconds until she realized what she was doing. She pulled away from him, let go of his face, and then brought her hands to her sides.  
Flustered, Ino apologized, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me…”  
Shikamaru placed his hand under her chin to tilt it up. Ino’s heart started to pound as she looked into his eyes and was reminded of her dream a few nights ago, only this was actually happening. They both closed their eyes and brought their lips together a second time. It was amazing to her; it felt right to kiss him and for him to kiss her back. They pulled apart after a few minutes to catch their breath.  
Ino whispered, “Wow…”  
Shikamaru smirked and jokingly asked, “Did I actually leave you speechless?”  
Ino’s blush intensified and she looked away from him in embarrassment. She heard him chuckle a little and then she felt her head being turned towards him.  
“I’m kidding, Ino. Thank you for making me laugh,” Shikamaru said with a small smile.  
And then he added, “And…Thank you for coming here and being here for me.”  
Ino smiled as well and replied, “Your welcome, Shikamaru.”  
Then she went on to explain, “Shikamaru, about the kiss, I don’t regret it. I kissed you because I wanted to.”  
She paused for a moment and then continued, “To tell you the truth, I’ve been having these feelings for you that seem to be more than just friendship.”  
He chuckled and then she turned to look at him with a questioning gaze, and he replied, “I feel the same way, I have the same dilemma where I couldn’t stop thinking about you as more than a friend. But I didn’t know how to tell you.”  
Ino smiled before asking, “So what do we do now that we know that we have feelings for each other?”  
Shikamaru smirked and then answered, “Obviously, I’m supposed to ask you on a date next. But before that…”  
His face looked stern and Ino immediately guessed what Shikamaru wanted to do.  
“You’re planning on revenge against Asuma-sensei’s killers, right?” Ino asked.  
Shikamaru nodded solemnly and added, “It’s something that I need to do, Ino.”  
Ino sighed but then she said, “I won’t stop you but don’t… Don’t get hurt too badly. Because if you don’t come home like you promised when we were six years old, I’ll never forgive you.”  
Shikamaru chuckled yet again, “I can’t believe that you remember that promise.”  
Ino rebutted, “Of course I do; so you better keep it.”  
Shikamaru brought his forehead to touch hers as he replied, “I promise, I won’t drift away like a cloud.”  
He gave her a kiss on the forehead and then pecked her lips before Ino got up from the floor.  
Ino then whispered, “Good night, Shika.”  
“’Night, Ino,” Shikamaru replied.  
So Ino let herself out of the room and went through the front door and went home.  
The next day…  
She woke up early in the morning and tended to the flower shop and went about her whole day working. She had done all this until closing time and she had gone home again. Then before she knew it, it was time for bed. But before she went to sleep, her fingers were playing with the stud earring that she had received from Asuma along with Shikamaru and Chouji. Perhaps that the time had flown by because she didn’t want to think of the lingering grief of Asuma’s death. Then she slipped into a dreamless sleep at least until a few hours later where she was awoken by a knock at her window. At first, she was on high alert but then relaxed as she recognized the silhouette of Shikamaru because of his spiky hair.   
She got out of bed and then opened the window to poke her head out of it and asked, “Shikamaru, what are you doing here?”  
He replied, “I came to tell you that I’m leaving with Chouji and Sakura in a few minutes, and to ask you something.”  
Ino asked, “What is it?”  
He seemed a little nervous before asking, “When I come back, will you go on a date with me?”  
Ino smiled before she leaned in closer to Shikamaru and answered, “I’d love to, Shika.”  
She brought her lips to his and gave him a breathtaking kiss that left her dazed and then she pulled away to whisper, “Good luck Shika, and be careful.”  
He nodded and then he turned away from her with gear belt in hand and then took off over the roof tops towards the gates. She watched him until he was out of sight.  
Ino looked on in worry and thought, “Please be safe, Shikamaru.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks in it.


	22. Ch. 21: Pursuing Akatsuki

Shikamaru had planned everything out to the tiniest detail; Asuma’s death would not be in vain. Though he was a little worried when Tsunade-sama had caught the three of them earlier that morning.  
Earlier at dawn…  
All three members of Team Asuma were at the gate. Shikamaru had just arrived after saying that he was leaving to Ino and asking her on a date, but he didn’t say that to his teammates of course. He got all of his gear together and tightened the ankle straps of his sandals. Then he ignited the lighter, emitting a glow in the early morning darkness.  
Sakura proclaimed, “We’re ready.”  
Then Chouji added, “Let’s go, Shikamaru.”  
“Yeah,” Shikamaru replied.  
They weren’t even more than three feet from the gate before they heard a shout, “Stop!”  
Startled, all three turned around to see Tsunade standing with a stern look on her face.  
Sakura mumbled, “Shishou…”  
“Where do you think you’re going?” Tsunade demanded.  
Shikamaru simply answered, “Your orders are still in effect. We regrouped with different team members and are going to continue our mission.”  
Tsunade replied angrily, “I don’t tolerate selfishness!”  
But then she calmly added, “Shikamaru, I’ll add you to a platoon I’ve organized personally. And I’ll deploy you once we’ve come up with a sound plan.”  
But then Shikamaru rebutted, “Just send them as back-up later. I’ve already got a plan worked out for the three of us.”  
“Enough!” Tsunade shouted, “Asuma is dead, it’s just the three of you now!”  
Shikamaru then murmured, “Asuma is still with us.”  
Tsunade asked in shock, “You’re putting revenge before common sense?! This isn’t like you at all; you’ll be throwing your lives away.”  
“We’re not stupid enough to go out there planning to die, It’s just…” Shikamaru trailed off.  
Tsunade asked, “It’s just… what?”  
Shikamaru answered, “If I let it go like this, I’d live the rest of my life regretting it.” He ignited the lighter again, “And I can’t think of a more troublesome way to live.”  
Tsunade solemnly exclaimed, “Grow up. Shinobi will always be surrounded by death. Some deaths are harder to deal with than others… But you have no future if you can’t get over them!”  
Shikamaru closed the lighter again and said, “Carrying this lighter that Asuma-sensei gave me, I feel like Asuma-sensei’s nearby. That he’s watching us… That he’s protecting us. This lighter stays with me until I’ve settled things.”  
Again Tsunade shouted, “Get real! There are only three of you! Platoons are a four-man cell-”  
“So you just need a fourth member, correct?” a voice interrupted.  
They all looked as Kakashi came forward and then he added, “I’ll serve as captain for Team Ten. How’s that sound?”  
Tsunade started to say, “Kakshi, what are you…”  
Kakashi answered, “They’re going to go anyway. If you assign me as their captain, I’ll keep an eye on them, and make sure they don’t do anything drastic.”  
They waited patiently for Tsunade to decide as the sun slowly rose from the distance, lighting up the village with it’s glow.  
Tsunade let out an exasperated sigh before saying, “Fine. Do what you want!”  
Both Chouji and Sakura let out happy shouts.  
Then Shikamaru asked, “Kakashi-sensei, is Naruto gonna be okay?”  
Kakashi looked at his bandaged right arm before Sakura pointed it out, “Your right arm…”  
Then Kakashi replied, “Yep, Naruto doesn’t need me around anymore. So I left him with another captain.”  
Shikamaru smirked and said, “Naruto…”  
Then Kakashi stepped toward them and asked, “Okay Team Asuma, ready to move?”  
They all answered in unison, “Yeah!”  
Then as they took off from the gates, Shikamaru thought, “Thanks a million, Kakashi-sensei.”  
Present…  
Now they are in a forest, crouched down in a huddle. Kakashi then said, “Shikamaru, let’s hear your plan first.”  
Shikamaru replied, “Sure, I just have to change the plan a little to account for you, Kakashi-sensei.”  
“Right, whenever you’re ready,” Kakashi prepared to listen as did Chouji and Sakura.  
Shikamaru then explained, “I’ll break it down into several different scenarios and explain each one. Things will vary depending on what happens, so I need you to remember them all.”  
Then he explained the steps that his plan had consisted of in detail and he gave each one a role to play.  
Then he pulled out a small capsule and then he handed it to Kakashi, saying, “Kakashi-sensei, take this; use it when you see an opening.”  
Kakahi gripped the capsule in his hand, “Got it. I’ve gotta hand it to you, Shikamaru. You’ve learned a great deal about the enemy for having only encountered them once.”  
Shikamaru countered, “There’s still a lot we don’t know about the other one, unfortunately.”  
But Kakashi thought otherwise, “To be able to come up with a new strategy so quickly after I joined the squad…Very impressive.”  
Shikamaru then added, “Those are all the strategies I have based on the information I’ve gathered. Once you’ve memorized our simulations, replay each one in your head at least three times. Our probability of success depends on whether or not you commit them to memory.”  
Chouji and Sakura both nodded their heads in agreement. Shikamaru gripped onto Asuma’s lighter tightly before they all got up on their feet.  
Kakashi asked, “Ready to go?”  
Sakura answered for all of them, “Ready!”  
Shikamaru then said, “First, we have to pick up their trail.”  
And then Sakura added, “We’d have to try and find remaining scents or footprints on the path they took from the Fire Temple to the exchange point.”  
Shikamaru retorted, “I doubt we’ll find anything quickly though.”  
Kakashi then proclaimed, “Then let’s get going.”  
The three young Chūnin exclaimed, “Right!”  
Elsewhere, Kakuzu and Hidan were sitting on a boulder with their hands clasped in a hand sign, while their images were projected elsewhere along with the leader and the remaining members. They were sealing away the Niibi from Yugito, her body suspended, and the red chakra leaked out from her mouth and eyes.  
When it was done, Yugito’s lifeless body fell unceremoniously to the ground, with her hair flaired out.  
Then the leader said, “The sealing of the Nibi is complete, only four remain. Dismissed.”  
“Finally!” Hidan exclaimed.  
Then Kakuzu said, “Time to head to Konoha, Hidan.”  
“Did you say Konoha?” Deidara asked.  
Then he added, “Kakuzu, Hidan, if you’re going to Konoha, let me warn you. The Jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki lives there; watch yourselves if you run into him.”  
Hidan laughed, “Whoa, whoa! Don’t put me in the same boat as you, Deidara-chan! I’m not the one who had to get his arms reattached by Kakuzu!”  
“Better the arms than the head,” Kakuzu retorted.  
Hidan grit his teeth, “Kakuzu! Who’s side are you on? We’re supposed to be partners! Why do you always-”  
“Shut up, Hidan. Let’s get going,” Kakuzu cut him off.  
Their images disappeared and then they were back on the boulder.  
Hidan groaned as he got up, “Sitting still for three days sucked; time to let loose.”  
But then he turned to see Kakuzu walking away, “Kakuzu, where the hell are you going? The exchange point is that way right?” Hidan pointed in the other direction.  
Kakuzu then asked, “Are you brain-dead?”  
Offended, Hidan raised his scythe and said, “What?”  
Kakuzu explained further, “Our target is the Jinchūriki; just because we said we’d be back doesn’t mean we’re required to waltz right into an ambush. We’ll take a different route to Konoha. It’s been three days; the bounty’s probably been sent back to Konoha.”  
Hidan smirked and commented, “Yeah, I guess he would have been.”  
He put his scythe on his back and then started to follow Kakuzu.  
But then Kakuzu turned back around again and murmured, “That reminds me…”  
Hidan stared as Kakuzu pulled out Hidan’s hitai-ate out of his sleeve.  
“That wound on your neck is ugly; cover it up” Kakuzu said as he threw it to Hidan.  
Hidan caught it and then said, “My hitai-ate! Wow, you actually picked it up for me? Kakuzu, you can be a nice guy when you try!”  
Kakuzu hissed, “Shut up, Hidan! Let’s go!”  
Hidan tied his hitai-ate around his neck and then shouted, “Hey! Wait a sec! Yo Kakuzu! You may act like a prick, but you really like me don’t you?”  
Kakuzu threatened, “Keep talking and I will kill you.”  
Hidan laughed and then joked, “Aw, don’t be shy on me…”  
Shikamaru and the others are now searching by a forest with the trees bare and widespread. Kakashi was kneeling on the ground before he got back up again.  
“Well, there’s no trail left because of the rain. So what do we do?” Kakashi inquired.  
Shikamaru then answered, “Any plans we come up with are pointless if we can’t find the enemy.”  
Then Chouji inputted, “They wouldn’t return to the same spot right?”  
Sakura added, “There sould be two squads watching the exchange point.”  
“It wouldn’t be a problem if we were only dealing with the loud one, but he’s with that other guy. Even if they take a different route, their destination and targets are the same. Staling Asuma’s corpse to collect the bounty and capturing Naruto, a Jinchūriki; they’re heading for Konoha.” Shikamaru explained.  
Then Kakashi got out a scroll and got some of his blood on it.  
“That narrows the area we need to search. Leave it to me.”  
He slammed the scroll onto the ground and shouted, “Kuchiyose no Jutsu!”  
His ninken appeared with Pakkun asking, “Hey Kakashi. What do you want us to do?”  
Kakashi answered, “I want you to find two Akatsuki members who are enroute to Konoha. All of you will split and search for any scents that may be them. Then if one of you finds them, inform us immediately. But be careful to not let them spot you.”  
All of them said, “Got it.”  
Then they all took off in different directions that all head to Konoha. So far some of the dogs didn’t have any luck but then Pakkun picked up a scent that was fresh. So he followed it until he saw two figures that were heading to Konoha.   
He hid behind a tree that was just a few feet away from them and thought, “That must be them. I have to inform Kakashi!”  
So then he took off just before Kakuzu turned his head to look behind him, but he didn’t see Pakkun.  
Hidan turned around as well and asked, “What is it, Kakuzu?”  
Kakuzu replied, “Nothing, just my imagination.”  
Hidan scoffed and then said, “Then move it!”  
So they continued their path towards Konoha…  
Pakkun returned to them and Kakashi asked, “Did you find them?”  
Pakkun answered, “Yeah, they’re definitely headed for Konoha. They’re at 2 o’clock, ten minutes from here.”  
Kakashi nodded and then said, “Got it, thank you Pakkun, all of you.”  
Then they all disappeared in a puff of smoke. Shikamaru and his teammates had determined looks and then Kakashi proclaimed, “Alright you three, let’s go.”  
Then they took off in the direction that Pakkun indicated, aware of the dangers ahead.  
A while later…  
As Hidan and Kakuzu were walking, Shikamaru’s shadow slithered on the ground towards them from behind.  
Kakuzu murmured, “Hidan…”  
“I know,” Hidan replied before they both jumped away from the shadow but then two kunai with explosive tags were thrown at them. They exploded on impact; Hidan blocked it with his scythe while Kakuzu hardened his arm.  
Hidan shouted, “Kakuzu!”  
“I hardened my hand so I didn’t get hurt!” Kakuzu replied.  
Then he warned Hidan, “More importantly, watch out for that shadow.”  
Hidan scoffed, “As if I’d fall for the same thing again!”  
Kakuzu sudeenly shouted, “Hidan, above you!”  
They both looked up to see Shikamaru throwing more explosive tags; they barely dodged them as they pierced the ground.  
They dodged them but they didn’t explode, the explosive tags are only attached to blades. But only then did they realize it was all a trick; they couldn’t move.  
Kakuzu commented, “He got us.”  
Shikamaru smirked and then he jumped off of the tree branch and landed a few feet away from them.  
“Kagemane Shuriken no Jutsu, complete…” Shikamaru proclaimed.  
Hidan growled, “Bastard…Your shadow never touched us. How did you-”  
Shikamaru answered, “Those knives I threw at you are chakra blades. I’m sure you’re familiar with them. They’re made from a special metal that lets them absorb their user’s elemental chakra.”  
Hidan shouted in annoyance, “Kakuzu, what the hell is this guy talking about?!”  
Kakuzu retorted, “Moron, just shut up, Hidan.”  
Shikamaru continued, “Using the chakra they absorb, their wielder can use them as a base for his techniques. But all you need to know is that I’m using my jutsu through the blades. They’re mementos from Asuma, the man you two murdered!”  
Kakuzu questioned, “The 35 million ryo?”  
Then he thought, “He was aiming to trap us with the chakra blades from the start. He used real explosive tags on the kunai to make sure we’d dodge the chakra blades he threw next. On top of that, he used his shadow to make sure we’d focus on the ground so that we’d barely notice his attack from the air and have almost no time to avoid it. That gave him all he needed to stab our shadows. He is very smart.”  
Shikamaru glared at them and then declared, “Now, it’s time to end this.”  
Hidan shouted at Kakuzu, “Why the hell are you being so quiet?! You had to go and get yourself caught too didn’t you! Oh man, we’re screwed aren’t we?!”  
Shikamaru answered him, “Oh, you’re screwed. According to my plan, the second I captured you, it was over.”  
Then he extended his shadow to Hidan and their shadows had connected.  
Kakashi watched from behind a tree, with his sharingan eye uncovered. He thought, “He got them.”  
Then Shikamaru used his shadow to grab the chakra blade out of the ground off of Hidan’s shadow.  
Hidan shouted, “Damn it, what are you gonna do now?!”  
Shikamaru chuckled, “I’m not going to make the same mistake twice in a row. You two are about to be cornered; I’ll make sure to target the right guy first this time.”  
Then he moved backwards, in turn, forcing Hidan to mimic his movements until he got Hidan to grab his scythe that had gotten detached from the wire.  
Hidan seethed, “I have your face memorized; I’m gonna destroy you if it’s the last thing I do!”  
Then Hidan forced Hidan to move towards Kakuzu to attack him.  
“Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?” Shikamaru asked mockingly.  
Then he made Hidan jump and attack Kakuzu.  
Hidan warned, “Kakuzu, duck!”  
Then, suddenly, Kakuzu’s right hand popped out of the ground and grabbed the chakra blade out so that Kakuzu could duck away from the scythe. This shocked Shikamaru; he did not expect that to happen.  
“I never imagined that his arms could still move on their own after being detached! When did he?” Shikamaru thought.  
But then his eyes widened in alarm, “When I first threw the explosive tags? He hid in the smoke long enough to send his arm underground. He is a true Akaktsuki member; their abilities are all out of this world!”  
Kakuzu reattached his arm and then commented, “You said we were finished, but you still had no idea what I was capable of. So you kept your distance and came up with a new strategy. You actually think, unlike my partner. But even if you analyze every aspect of a battle, things don’t always go according to plan.”  
Shikamaru grit his teeth and glared at him.  
Hidan smirked and laughed a little. Until he processed what Kakuzu said and then yelled angrily, “Kakuzu! What the hell was that “unlike my partner” bullshit?!”  
Kakuzu replied, “Exactly what it sounded like, moron!”  
But then Hidan was forced to attack Kakuzu again, Hidan was rapidly swiping his scythe side to side.  
Hidan shouted, “Kakuzu, do something!”  
“You’re forcing me back!” Kakuzu kept jumping backwards until his back was to a tree.  
Kakuzu thought, “Damn it!”  
“Now, Chouji!” Shikamaru shouted in his head.  
Then from above Kakuzu, Chouji went through some hand seals and rolled into ball with his hair turning spiky.  
Then he shouted, “Nikudan Harishensa!”  
Hidan shouted in alarm, “Kakuzu!”  
Chouji hit his mark and the ground had cracked upon impact, crushing Kakuzu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks in it.


	23. Ch. 22: Kakuzu's Abilities and Hidan's Curse

The dust cloud surrounded where Kakuzu was hit. Chouji had jumped away and looked on in confusion.  
“What’s going on?” he questioned.  
Shikamaru commented, “It’s just like Raidou-senpai described.”  
Kakuzu stepped out of the dust cloud; his face had turned black grey for a second before it turned back to his original tanned skin color.  
Shikamaru then thought, “It’s got to be a skin-solidifying technique.”  
Then he said aloud, “That’s his ability.”  
Kakuzu then commented, “Another good analysis. You’re right; no physical attack can harm me.”  
Shikamaru then thought, “I accounted for their abilities up to a point, but this is… If direct attacks don’t work, what do we do?”  
Chouji looked over at his best friend and said quietly, “Shikamaru…”  
Then Hidan smiled and laughed, “Cower in fear, you pathetic atheists! Yeah, now it’s our turn!”  
Then he turned to Kakuzu and said, “Kakuzu, break this technique already!”  
Kakuzu agreed, “Sure.”  
But then suddenly he gasped in pain, while Hidan looked on in shock as did Shikamaru and Chouji; Kakashi just struck Kakuzu from behind where his heart is with Raikiri.  
Kakuzu rasped in pain, “H-How the hell? I didn’t even sense you and you got me from behind?”  
Kakazhi merely stated, “Too bad for you…”  
Hidan then shouted in annoyance, “What the hell happened? I thought physical attacks don’t work on you!”  
Shikamaru questioned, “Kakashi-sensei, how did you…?”  
Kakashi answered, “I saw everything; I watched you perform that iron-skin technique. The seals you used were for earth-type nature manipulation.”  
Kakuzu exclaimed, “It only took me a second. You managed to read my seals at that speed? And you used such a powerful lightning technique.”  
Then he exclaimed in realization, “Now I get it; you’re Sharingan no Kakashi!”  
Then Kakashi cooly replied, “Earth is weak against lightning; you got matched with the wrong guy. And now you’re dead.”  
Sakura watched from a distance and was amazed, “Kakashi-sensei really is amazing! Now we only have one more to take out.”  
Chouji then exclaimed, “He was so fast; Kakashi-sensei really is incredible!”  
Shikamaru agreed, “Yeah, things would hav been a lot tougher if we didn’t take out the mortal one first.”  
Then he staggered a bit which caused Chouji to ask, “Are you okay, Shikamaru?!”  
Shikamaru replied, “It’s getting tough to hold this technique.”  
Then he shouted, “Kakashi-sensei!”  
Kakashi turned his attention towards and thought, “His technique is reaching its limit.”  
Kakashi pulled his left hand away and then pulled his right hand out of Kakuzu’s body, letting it fall to the ground with a thump.  
Hidan shouted once again in annoyance, “Did he get your heart? You can’t just go around getting killed outta nowhere. Man, you suck!”  
Kakashi then turned his attention to Hidan and proclaimed to him, “You’re next.”  
He prepared his technique in his right hand and then he ran towards him to attack. When suddenly, Kakuzu kicked Kakashi into a tree with a great amount of force, the impact caused about three more trees to topple over.  
Hidan chuckled, “That’s what he gets for acting cool and saying crap like ‘you’re dead’ like that.”  
Kakashi slowly got to his feet and wondered, “What is going on? There’s no way I missed his heart!”  
Hidan then proclaimed, “Nice, now let’s slaughter these guys!”  
Kakuzu unzipped this cloak and then exclaimed, “I intend to.”  
He threw his cloak off and revealed four masks stitched onto his back, with one mask broken. Then the masks started to move around and then four black masses burst out of Kakuzu’s back and took form.  
Kakashi had thought, “What are those?”  
At the same time that happened, Shikamaru’s shadow had detached from Hidan, setting him free.  
Chouji asked in confusion, “Shikamaru, what’s going on? And why didn’t that guy die after getting hit by Raikiri?”  
“I don’t know. But with these guys, nothing they do surprises me anymore,” Shikamaru answered while he wiped his forehead with his sleeve.  
Hidan then moved his feet a bit and said, “Finally, I can move.”  
Then he asked, “So, are you ready to kill them, Kakuzu?”  
Kakuzu answered, “Yeah.”  
Then Hidan shouted hysterically, “Jashin-sama, watch me! I’m gonna go nuts on all of them!”  
Then the monster with the broken mask seemed ready to fight. But while Shikamaru and Chouji prepared themselves, the monster suddenly dropped to the ground and laid there in a black mass, motionless.  
Then Hidan shouted, “Kakuzu, one of them died when you released them! You really suck!”  
Kakashi observed this and thought, “If one of those masks died right after it was released, then that must have been what I hit with Raikiri; I’ll have to remember that.”  
Then Kakuzu said to Hidan, “Hidan, sit this one out; I’ll fight him.”  
But Hidan objected, “Hold up! No way! I’m getting really pissed off that they keep tricking me! Let’s do it like always, okay?”  
Kakuzu slightly chuckled and then prepared his hand seals while Hidan slashed his scythe out at Kakashi. Kakashi defended himself as well as he could all the while Hidan was laughing wildly.  
Then suddenly, froom behind Hidan, Kakashi’s eyes widened as one of the monsters opened it’s mouth and then Kakuzu shouted, “Fūton: Atsugai!”  
The mask had let out a powerful, raging wind straight at Hidan and Kakashi, blowing them away. While the wind blew Shikamaru and Chouji back a few feet away as well.  
Shikamaru shouted, “Kakashi-sensei!”  
After the wind had died down, the trees were either decimated or cut down to stumps. Kakuzu stood with the other masked monsters, facing Shikamaru and Chouji. Then the horned mask monster seemed to be expelling sparks.  
Shikamaru pulled out a scroll from his belt and murmured, “Here it comes, Chouji…”  
Sakura was still watching what was happening and she looked at the mask in worry. She murmured, “No if they get hit with that….”  
Then she ran from her hiding spot and shouted, “Chouji, Shikamaru, get away!”  
The horned mask-monster opened its mouth while Kakuzu called out, “Raiton: Gian!”  
The monster let out a beam of lightning while at the same time; Shikamaru opened the scroll that had the kanji for shield.  
Shikamaru exclaimed, “It won’t make it in time!”  
But before it could strike them, Kakashi had appeared in front of them, protecting them from the lightning technique by deflecting it away with his hands. The force of it had torn his bandages and glove away and when it had stopped, he panted heavily.  
Then Sakura appeared with them, and she asked Kakashi, “Are you alright?”  
Kakashi wearily answered, “Well, I’ll live…”  
In thought though, he was concerened, “These guys are strong, especially the one with the mask. No one should be able to use elemental attacks at this level unless they had the innate affinity for the element. But he’s already used earth, wind and now lightning! What the hell is going on?!”  
Then Hidan had stepped next to Kakuzu and smirked in amusement and then he commented, “I’m impressed; you’re the first person to survive that combo, Kakashi Hatake.”  
Kakuzu added, “His sharingan had saved him.”  
But then he made another set hand seals and then asked, “But can he keep it up?”  
Then the mask with red lips opened its mouth and Kakuzu shouted, “Katon: Zukokku!”  
It shot out a blaze of fire at a wide range, causing all of them to dodge it. As Kakashi got away from the blast, Hidan attacked him again until they pushed each other back and Hidan commented, “Not bad.”  
All four regrouped and Sakura exclaimed, “They’re really good at combo attacks.”  
Chouji agreed, “And Kakashi-sensei’s Raikiri attack definitely hit the target. How is he not dead?”  
“I’m sure that I crushed his heart; he should be dead. But what I actually hit was one of the masked monsters that came out of his back. We should assume that one of them died in his place,” Kakashi answered.  
Shikamaru added, “It was the same when he dismantle my Kagemane Shuriken no Jutsu earlier. Something like a heart was attached to his arm and moved independently.”  
Chouji asked, “What do you mean?”  
Shikamaru answered, “Each of those monsters must have its own heart, along with his own and so they’re all his. In other words, he has five hearts.”  
Shocked, Chouji asked, “How can he?!”  
Shikamaru added, “Although, Kakashi-sensei’s Raikiri had killed one already.”  
“Then we have to eliminate the four remaining hearts in order to kill him for good?” Sakura asked.  
Shikamaru nodded his head and answered, “Yeah.”  
Kakuzu confirmed the observation, “Very sharp; you’re absolutely right. Each one contains a heart taken from a shinobi that I’ve killed. I’ll have to stock up and you’re hearts will be perfect!”  
They all looked at him in shock while Kakashi thought, “Now I understand; by connecting his chakra circulatory system to multiple hearts, he can change his chakra’s nature to that of the original owner. No wonder he can use so many types of nature manipulation.”  
Hidna stuck his scythe into the ground and then he asked, “By the way, does Konoha bury it’s dead? Cuz if they do, then it will be annoying. Kakuzu will be all like, ‘We have to dig up the bounty and bring it to the exchange point.’ That fire-spitting bastard, I expected to get a little more mileage out of him… But in the end, he was worthless!”  
Kakuzu commented dryly, “Says the guy whose head he chopped off…”  
Insulted, Hidan shouted, “Shut your goddamned mouth!”  
Then he turned back to address the three Chūnin, “I know that you guys came out here looking for revenge but that ain’t happening with your skills.”  
He shouldered his scythe before continuing, “You all look like kids; so I guess you were his students? Well, with such a weakling for a teacher, it’s no wonder you can’t handle us.”  
Agitated, Chouji shouted, “Don’t insult Asuma-sensei like that!”  
“Chouji…” Shikamaru said to him for him to calm down.  
Continuing with his bait, Hidan added, “One of those priceless student-teacher bonds? What a joke!”  
Chouji growled, “Bastard!”  
Shikamaru tried to calm him again, “Chouji!”  
Finally, Hidan insulted Chouji, “What was so great about him anyway… fatty?”  
Enraged, Chouji ran forward, charging towards Hidan. He enlarged his arms and was about ready to throw a punch while Hidan was ready to swing at him. But just before Chouji could punch him, he was suddenly frozen; Shikamaru stopped him with his shadow. Hidan then changed his attack to bring his scythe down on Chouji instead. But Kakashi blocked the attack, protecting Chouji. Then Kakashi and Hidan continued to fight while simultaneously getting away from the others.  
Shikamaru released his shadow and scolded Chouji, “You idiot! You see what happens when you get riled up so easily?”  
Chouji apologized, “Sorry…”  
Suddenly Kakuzu was in front of Chouji, Chouji tried to attack but Kakuzu blocked his punch and then punched him to the base of a tree. Then Kakuzu punched Chouji into the tree, creating a hole in it.   
But before he could kill Chouji, he hears, “Shannarro!”  
He looks up and sees Sakura coming towards him ready to throw a punch. He narrowly dodges her punch but she punched the ground, causing it to crack around them. Surprised at the display, he couldn’t dodge a well-placed kick at his abdomen, kicking him away from Chouji.  
Meanwhile Kakashi was running up a tree with Hidan chasing after him. He dodged Hidan’s scythe and had to deal with the masked monsters attacking him as well.  
Back with Kakuzu, he got up from the ground and coughed slightly and murmured, “Little brat…”  
Then Shikamaru controlled his shadow to try to Kakuzu but he kept dodging the tendrils. But then the masked lightning monster shot out lightning at Shikamaru so that he can’t control his shadow. While Shikamaru was distracted, Sakura continued to fight with Kakuzu at taijutsu. Sakura was holding her own against him fairly well, not backing down from him. She even landed a few blows but got hit too. She finally punched him farther away and she quickly got to Chouji healed him as much as she could.  
Sakura asked, “Are you okay, Chouji?”  
Chouji smiled weakly and answered, “Yeah, somehow. Thanks.”  
Sakura smiled back at him, when suddenly, she was grabbed by the throat and was pulled away.  
Chouji shouted in alarm, “Sakura!” Before he too was grabbed by the throat and dragged to where Kakuzu stood.  
Kakashi had a bit of trouble with Hidan and had to keep dodging their attacks, while Shikamaru had the same problem being chased by the lightning monster.  
Kakuzu had a tight grip on both Sakura and Chouji and murmured, “Die now.”  
Kakashi was finally hit and fell on a tree top, motionless, while Hidan approached with an almost giddy expression.  
Shikamaru’s mind was whirring, trying to think of a plan to save his teammates while running from lightning attacks.  
Back with Hidan, he stepped closer to Kakashi, raised his scythe over his head and shouted, “It’s over for you!”  
He swung his scythe across Kakashi’s waist, bisecting him, but then he disappeared in puff of smoke, shocking and annoying Hidan.  
The real Kakashi ran off towards Kakuzu and the others. Shikamaru ran closer to Kakuzu, pulled out another scroll, unrolled it and let it down on the ground. He made a few hand seals, placed his foot on the symbol for water and then water spewed out of the scroll and covered the ground with water, close to Kakuzu’s feet. He waited for a few seconds and then when the lightning monster attacked, Shikamaru jumped out of the way and the lightning struck the water, stunning Kakuzu.  
Then Shikamaru threw a kunai with a paper bomb at Kakuzu, but since he noticed this he let go of Sakura and Chouji and quickly went through some hand seals, creating a pillar of water to block the explosion. In the cover of smoke, Shikamaru and Kakashi got Sakura and Chouji away from them.  
Once at a safe distance, Sakura and Chouji were coughing while trying to regain their breath.  
“Are you two alright?” Shikamaru asked.  
Sakura answered, “More or less.”  
Hidan came down from the tree to stand next to Kakuzu and asked in amusement, “What’s with that? That was weak.”  
Kakuzu retorted, “Same goes for you, being fooled by a Kage Bunshin.”  
Hidan laughed sheepishly, “Oh, you saw that?”  
Kakashi then asked, “Shikamaru, what’s our next move?”  
“We have to separate them and then corner them individually. After we eliminate their ability to do combo attacks, we’ll focus on destroying his four remaining hearts,” Shikamaru answered.  
Kakashi then added, “But to be successful, someone will have to distract Hidan.”  
Sakura then proclaimed, “I’ll do it. I have the most chakra saved out of everyone; I’d be able to avoid his scythe and…”  
Shikamaru objected, “No, you are our Medic-nin, and we can’t afford fatal injuries should you be killed before us; it’s too risky.”  
But then he declared, “I’ll do it; I’ll bind him with my shadow and then lure him away.”  
Kakashi inquired, “But how will you snare him though? You need a distraction for that as well.”  
Chouji then said, “Then I’ll…”  
Shikamaru objected again, “No, if his attacks draw a single drop of blood from you, you’re dead. It’s like the last time; our team charging in to attack is the wrong move.”  
He paused before continuing, “Chouji, you and Sakura need to reserve your chakra to Kakashi-sensei fight Kakuzu.”  
Chouji nodded and then Shikamaru proclaimed determinedly, “I’ll capture him by myself. And… I’ll fulfill that role as well.”  
Kakashi relented, “Alright, we’ll leave it to you.” He took an item out of his pocket and handed it to him saying, “Here.”  
Shikamaru took it into his fist and placed the item into his back pouch. Then he slowly walked towards Hidan and Kakuzu until he was a good distance closer and yet away from them. The he swiftly let his shadow chase after them, causing them to dodge them.  
Hidan laughed, “This again? Are my scythe and abilities that scary?”  
Then Kakashi engaged Kakuzu in taijutsu, declaring, “You’re fighting me!”  
Hidan was momentarily distracted by the fight but then he dodged the shadow again. Shikamaru was continuously extending his shadow to try to catch him.  
Hidan asked mockingly, “Still attacking me from a distance, you wuss!”  
As Hidan was running up a tree, he saw a tendril throw a chakra blade at him, causing him to jump through the air but then he saw the other thrown at him as well. But before the blade could pin his shadow, he stuck ths scythe’s blades into the tree behind him and used it as a platform to be perched on it.  
Hidan commented in a cocky tone, “Give me some credit; this technique is a joke as long as I focus on your shadow-”  
But suddenly Shikamaru had run up the tree and threw a punch at Hidan, causing him to block him.  
Shikamaru stated, “I wasn’t just keeping my distance, and I’m not a wuss!”  
His shadow connected to Hidan because he became the shadow and he declared finally, “Kagemane no Justu, successful.”  
Hidan angrily growled, “You son of a bitch!”  
Kakashi shouted, “Go Shikamaru!”  
Chouji added, “Leave this to us.” While Sakura shouted, “We’re counting on you!”  
Shikamaru nodded and then forced Hidan to drop his scythe and then said, “Let’s go for a walk, just you and me.”  
Then he forced Hidan to run in the direction of a thicker, darker, forest. Kakuzu noticed this and calmly asked, “Are you sure about letting him go alone? He is severely underestimating Hidan. That Shikamaru kid would’ve become a big bounty one day. But now, he’ll be dead by the end of the day.”  
This statement caused Chouji and Sakura to glare at him.  
Then Kakuzu continued while he held out his arm, “But then again, I can’t fault your logic; I’m strong myself.”  
Black tendrils popped out of the seams of his arm in a menacing way. Kakuzu then said, “And I’ve got a lot more experience than all of you put together. Looking at your hitai-ates, it reminds me of the first Konoha shinobi I ever fought; the First Hokage!”  
Shocked, Sakura inquired, “How old is this guy?!”  
Kakashi asked him, “Then you really are immortal?!”  
“No, there is no such thing as true immortality in this world. I’ve just managed to extend my life by stealing the hearts of powerful shinobi I defeat before my current one gives out.” Kakuzu answered.  
Then the fire and wind masked monsters had started to merge and then Kakuzu exclaimed, “Including my own, I had a total of five hearts. Kakashi, it is only fitting to take your heart, to replace the one you destroyed.”  
Kakashi merely stared back at Kakuzu, preparing himself, physically and mentally to attack.

Meanwhile with Shikamaru and Hidan  
They were in a clearing of the denser forest and Shikamaru was throwing kunai with ninja wire attached to them and paper bombs were stringed on them. The result of him throwing these kunai in different directions was a web surrounding them.  
Hidan then said, “I won’t get away, huh?”  
He looked down, saw Shikamaru’s shadow detach from his and Shikamaru was breathing heavily.  
Hidan smirked before stating, “You can only hold that shadow technique for about five minutes until you run out. And now we’re all alone…”  
He paused for a second before he started to laugh, “That’s the best situation for me, you bastard!”  
He pulled out his spike weapon and came at Shikamaru, laughing wildly. He swung at Shikamaru and then cut at his cheek, while Shikamaru fell to the ground and looks at him in horror.  
Hidan grinned madly; he took the spike with the blood on it and licked it off. Hidan’s body turned black with the white on it to make it look like a skeleton as well. He stabbed his hand and let the blood drip on the forest floor and then he wiped the blood in the same pattern he used before. Shikamaru watched in terror, while sweat dripped down from his brow.  
Hidan raised the over his head and then he shouted, “Die!”  
With swift movements, he brought the spike down and plunged it through his chest, where the heart would be…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my tweaks in it.


	24. Ch. 23: Will of Fire

Kakuzu had his mask monsters surround Kakashi, with the fire and wind masked monsters merged together. Kakuzu then clasped his hands together, causing the lightning monster to shoot out lightning towards Kakashi but he was able to dodge it. But then, the merged monsters prepared a fire-wind combo move to attack him in the air. Through his quick-thinking, Kakashi escaped the flames with string attached to a kunai that he had flung to a tree. And then at the next onslaught of flames, he hid behind the tree on top of a branch.  
Kakuzu questioned, “Is that your idea of hiding?”  
Then the the wind masked monster blew shots of wind at the tree, creating hole near Kakashi’s head and then continued to make holes up on the tree, drawing Kakashi out from behind the tree until he was hit by a fireball.  
Sakura and Chouji shouted in unison, “Sensei!”  
Kakshi’s chest was hit, his shirt was burned, exposing part of his abdomen as he fell to the ground but then he disappeared in a puff of smoke, in his place, a broken log was revealed; he used the substitution technique. Then both Sakura and Chouji let out a sigh of relief.  
Kakuzu complimented, “You did a good job of hiding yourself this time, Kakashi.”  
But then he asked, “But do you have the courage to show yourself before us again?”  
Then suddenly, the lightning monster was pulled into the ground with only it’s head sticking out and then Kakashi burst out of the ground, brandishing another kunai to the fight the fire/wind monster. But then they both opened their mouths and let out a powerful whirlwind of flames.  
Kakashi shouted, “Suiton: Suijinheki!”  
A wall of water clashed witht the wind-enhanced flames but it wasn’t enough as it burst through the water wall.  
Kakashi thought as he was pushed back, “Fire combined with wind nature chakra can’t be put out with just water style, huh? Looks like I’ll have to confront him at close range after all.”  
But then he realized that Kakuzu was on the trunk on a tree behind him. Then he shot out the black tendrils towards Kakashi, effectively immobilizing him with a bunch of tendrils trying to grab at the heart through his chest. Then Kakuzu brought Kakashi down to the ground, pinning him in place.  
Kakuzu commented, “It appears that you didn’t get around to watching my movements.” Then he declared, “Your heart… is mine.”

The forest was deathly quiet for a few seconds. Hidan struck his own heart while Shikamaru clutched at his chest, wide-eyed.  
Hidan maliciously when he asked, “How’s that? It’s wonderful pain, isn’t it?”  
Shikamaru was standing very still until he coughed and then he fell forward to the ground, motionless, while Asuma’s lighter fell out of his pouch.  
Hidan scoffed, “How worthless; Jashin-sama must be disappointed…”  
“Now, Kakuzu should be about finished too.” Hidan said as he smiled.  
But back with Kakuzu, things turned out differently…  
Kakuzu had a shocked expression in his eyes as he clutched his chest groaning in pain.  
Kakuzu asked while shocked and confused, “W-What did you do?”  
Kakashi watched as Kakuzu writhed in pain, thinking, “It seems… he made it in time…”  
“This is impossible!” Kakuzu exclaimed.  
Hidan turned away from Shikamaru while his skin returned to normal. While he wasn’t paying attention, Shikamaru silently brought himself up with a determined steely glare.  
Before Hidan could even turn back around completely, Shikamaru struck him across the neck with his tantō, cutting into his neck and then fell to the ground.  
“Too shallow!” Shikamaru thought.  
And then with his quick-thinking, Shikamaru immobilized Hidan with his shadow yet again, wrapping it around his arm.  
Hidan growled, “You…! How are you alive?!”  
Shikamaru placed his tantō back in it’s sheath and answered, “I was only pretending to be dead.” He wiped the blood off his face to reveal that he was never cut.  
Shikamaru explained further, “The blood on your weapon… isn’t mine.” He paused and then said, “It’s your partner’s.”  
Back with Kakashi and Kakuzu  
Kakuzu exclaimed again, “Impossible…!”  
“Yes it is possible; your blood was used for your partner’s ritual,” Kakashi explained.  
He continued, “Shikamaru knew his opponent’s ability utilized blood after all. He prepared special blood capsules in advance.”  
Kakuzu fell to the ground saying, “It can’t be… When did you even have the chance?!”  
“When I struck you with my Raikiri before; I took some of your blood at that time,” Kakashi answered.  
Kakuzu was silent for a minute before saying in disbelief, “No way… that kid planned that far ahead…”  
Kakashi replied, “You had severely underestimated Shikamaru; you should have handled him more carefully.There was no way he would let the information that cost Asuma his own life go to waste. You guys who take people’s lives without hesitation could probably never understand how he feels.”  
Chouji and Sakura ran to Kakashi and Sakura asked, “Are you alright?”  
“Well somehow, I guess,” Kakashi answered. He pulled off the tendrils that were wrapped around his arms and ankles and then he started to pull out the tendrils that tried to burrow into his chest to get to his heart.  
Sakura interjected, “Wait! Pull them out slowly to not damage the arteries; I’ll heal you.”  
Kakashi rebutted, “Heal me later, they’re coming!”  
The remaining masked monsters ran towards them but then Chouji immediately sprung forward and shouted, “Baika no Justu!”  
He grew in immense size and then both of his palms started to glow as he shouted again, “Chōharite!”  
He brought them down on the monsters, crushing them into the ground.  
Sakura shouted in praise, “That was awesome, Chouji!”  
Chouji smiled triumphantly but it was short-lived when they tried to ensnare him with the tendrils but he quickly shrunk back down to his original size. Then, the fire monster shot out flames towards them but they dodged it. And then the lightning masked monster inserted itself back into Kakuzu, reviving him once more.  
Kakuzu then slowly got up from the ground and then gave a menacing glare at them. Then the merged monsters were reabsorbed into Kakuzu as well but then he started to change shape into a gruesome transformation.  
Bunches of tendrils protruded from his back, swaying on their own, his arms were extended by tendrils, making the seams split apart yet held them together. And finally, his mask came off as tendrils had spilt out of his mouth which also had seams.  
Horrified, Sakura exclaimed, “What is that?!”  
Kakashi replied, “His main body is a monster too.”  
Kakuzu then murmured, “Two of my hearts… gone. It’s been a long time…since that happened.”  
Back with Shikamaru and Hidan…  
“What do you mean by that?” Hidan asked angrily.  
Shikamaru explained his plan, “It didn’t matter who; but if anyone got the chance, we’d get your partner’s blood.” Shikamaru smirked and added, “With this bood capsule.”  
Hidan glared at Shikamaru, gritting his teeth in snarl.  
Shikamaru continued, “When Kakashi-sensei retrieved the blood, I took it and then I brought you out here to trap you. With using your partner’s blood, you caused Kakuzu to lose another heart now. That was our strategy.”  
Hidan hissed, “Bastard!”  
But then he suddenly became silent and then he started to chuckle quietly which confused Shikamaru.  
Then Hidan exclaimed, “Even I can see it and I’m not that bright; it’s been so many times already. Any idiot could figure out your technique after seeing it so many times.”  
Shikamaru questioned, “What did you say?”  
Hidan continued, “It seems your technique isn’t as strong as it was before. I don’t even need five minutes; I can move!”  
Shikamaru cursed under his breath as he struggled to keep hold of Hidan.  
Slowly, Hidan pulled out the spike out of his chest and then got up on his feet.  
He continued, “The endurance of your technique’s power and its effect gradually weakens every time you use it. Basically, the longer you use it, the weaker it gets.”  
He slowly walked towards Shikamaru, who fell to his knees, trying to keep hold of him.  
Hidan asked, “Aren’t you just about out of chakra? Huh?!”  
And then he was close enough to Shikamaru and held the spike above his head, laughing maniacally. Then he exclaimed, “If you had believed in Jashin-sama, you may have gotten a helping hand in your time of need.”  
He paused to smile menacingly and then added, “But even if you converted right now; he’d never forgive you!”  
He brought down the spike down towards Shikamaru to strike him but Shikamaru stretched his hand upward; suddenly stopping Hidan’s movement.  
Shikamaru proclaimed, “I don’t need your messed-up God’s forgiveness.”  
Shadows were attached to the strings with explosive tags, rendering Hidan immobile. Then Shikamaru shouted as he clenched his outstretched hand, “Kageyose no Jutsu!”  
Then the shadows had pulled at the strings and then the strings were wrapped around Hidan, binding him place.  
Furious, Hidan growled, “You…!”  
Shikamaru smirked before explaining, “I still have enough chakra left for this.”  
Then Shikamaru threw his tantō at a circle with a line through it on the ground.  
“What are you doing?!” Hidan asked angrily.  
Shikamaru only answered, “Just watch…”  
At the target, the ground started to crack and then spread to the area where Hidan was above it.The ground gave way and below Hidan was a pit with him hanging precariously over it.  
Hidan shouted, “What is this?! When did you do this?!”  
Shikamaru answered, “I had this trap prepared beforehand.”  
Hidan looked shocked as he thought, “He didn’t just separate me from Kakuzu on a whim, but he purposely lured me here? Then…this was his entire plan?!”  
Shikamaru interrupted Hidan’s thought, “When you curse someone, you dig two graves. Do you know what that means?”  
“What are you talking about?!” Hidan shouted.  
Shikamaru answered, “If you curse to kill someone, you also get killed in retribution, that’s why you need two graves for the burial.”  
He brought out Asuma’s lighter and prepared to light it as he added, “You cursed and killed my teacher. Did you think you were going to get away with that?”  
Hidan grit his teeth as Shikamaru proclaimed, “That pit is your grave.”  
Hidan chuckled menacingly and then exclaimed, “I’m not going to die. Even if my body is dismembered into pieces and only my head remains, I am going to drag myself out and eat your throat!”  
Unintimidated, Shikamaru merely looked away towards the forest where a few deer appeared before them. In confusion, Hidan murmured, “Deer?”  
Shikamaru explained, “These woods are special in the Land of Fire; members of my clan are the only ones allowed in and no one else comes here. My clan will make sure to keep you here forever.”  
Shikamaru was trying to light the lighter until he felt a presence tap his shoulder. Surprised, Shikamaru turned his head to find Asuma’s spirit smiling at him.  
Asuma praised him, “You did a great job, Shikamaru.”  
Shikamaru smiled back at him and replied, “Yeah.”  
Asuma brought out a cigarette and then Shikamaru lit it for him.  
Asuma breathed the out and said one last bequeathal, “My Will of Fire…is now yours.”  
After that, Asuma slowly faded away like his cigarette smoke.  
Hidan then frantically said, “Why are you lighting that?!”  
Shikamaru stared at the flame that the lighter produced and then answered, “It’s the Will of Fire… the will to protect our village.”  
Then he tossed the lighter ad he thought, “Goodbye, Sensei…”  
The lighter was getting closer and closer to Hidan and the explosive tags, until finally; the tags were set off, causing a fiery explosion.  
Then when the explosion was dissipated, Hidan’s body was blown to pieces, each part falling into the pit. Shikamaru walked closer to it and then looked down into it; he saw Hidan’s head, motionless at first. But then his eyes shot open and then he laughed, “What a sorry state. How dare you do this to me?”  
He continued to chuckle until his smile faltered and then proclaimed angrily, “Jashin-sama will punish you for this! A greater judgement will be handed down by Jashin-sama himself!”  
Unimpressed, Shikamaru stated, “Your bullshit doesn’t scare me.” He pulled out a kunai with an explosive tag tied to it. “We believe in different things; I believe in the Will of Fire. But your god is not this Jashin-sama or anything. Now I will hand down judgement.”  
Hidan growled, “Bastard!!”  
Shikamaru threw the kunai at the top of the pit on the inside and then set it off to cause the earth and rocks to cave in, burying Hidan in it.  
Hidan still proclaimed, “I told you, judgement will be handed down to you by Jashin-sama! And I will carry out that judgement! I only need teeth to take care of you! I’ll chew you to pieces!!”  
The pit had caved in and that threat was the last anyone will hear of Hidan ever again. Shikamaru stared blankly at the pit until he heard a deer next to him stomp at the ground. He turned his attention to the deer and then smiled when the deer found Asuma’s lighter. Shikamaru picked it up and then sat on the ground, staring at the lighter before igniting it again. As he stared at the flame, his eyes seemed to be on the brink of tears, so he let them out with only his clan’s deer to comfort him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my tweaks in it.


	25. Ch. 24: Fūton: Rasen Shuriken!

Previously…  
“Two of my hearts… gone. It’s been a long time…since that happened.” Kakuzu stated.  
Present  
Kakuzu exclaimed, “You won’t get away this time.”  
“Here he comes,” Kakashi warned.  
But before he could even get a kunai out of his weapon holster, tendril had emerged from the ground and wrapped themselves around the three of them, trapping them.  
Then Kakuzu spoke again, “Kakashi Hatake, I was planning to replace the hearts I lost with yours… But I changed my mind; I can get more hearts anytime I want after all…”  
Then the masks appeared at his shoulders and then he shouted, “Now, die!”  
The masks formed an inferno and then it was approaching the group of three.  
When suddenly, there were shouts of, “Fūton: Rasengan! Suiton: Hahonryū! Gufu Suika no Jutsu!”  
There was a whirlpool that appeared countering the inferno, leaving steam behind. In the steam, four people were hidden in it, until they heard a familiar voice say, “Sorry we’re late.”  
The steam cleared away and revealed them to be, Naruto, Ino, Sai and Yamato.  
Kakashi let out a deep breath, “Perfect timing…”  
Undeterred however, Kakuzu commented, “More strange people… And he’s messed up already…”  
They all saw that he was referring to Naruto, who was sporting a few bruises and scrapes and his jacket seemed worn.  
Chouji asked him, “Naruto, are you okay?”  
But instead of answering, Naruto asked, “Where’s Shikamaru?”  
He’s a little ways off fighting the other enemy,” Chouji answered while Ino flinched a little bit.  
Kakashi then said, “I want two of you to go to where Shikamaru is, preferably, a long-distance fighter and a Medic-nin.”  
Ino replied, “Sai and I will go; I can sense Shikamaru’s chakra signature.”  
Then Yamato ordered, “Alright… Sai and Ino go find Shikamaru and support him!”  
Ino and Sai said simultaneously, “Right!”  
Scoffing, Kakuzu commented, “What is this unorganized gang trying to do? Now there are more hearts for me to choose from.”  
Then he chuckled amusingly while Naruto stepped forward.  
He proclaimed, “From here on, this one’s mine.”  
Then Ino said to him, “Naruto, We’ll leave it to you!”  
In response, Naruto nodded his head while Ino quickly sensed Shikamaru’s chakra and then took off to his location, with Sai following her.  
Kakashi had seen that Naruto’s right hand was burned a little and then he asked Yamato, “Did he finish it?”  
Yamato answered, “No, only about 50%.”  
“I see…” Kakashi murmured.  
“But…” Yamato paused and then added, “Well, just watch… He’s not the same person as he used to be.”  
A few miles away, Ino stopped until she sensed Shikamaru’s chakra signature again though it seemed a bit weak; which made her worry more than she let show.  
Ino exclaimed, “This way!”  
Then they both kept running towards Shikamaru’s location. While running Sai commented, “Either way…To go against an opponent who had killed Asuma-san alone… Will Shikamaru be alright?”  
Ino answered, “He will be okay.”  
Though she tried to reassure herself more, thinking, “Shikamaru is the smartest person I know aside from Shikaku-ji-san.”  
Then she added to her statement, “Shikamaru would always plan ahead if he even has the tiniest bit of information about an enemy.”  
But then an explosion was heard off in the distance, in the same direction where Shikamaru is.  
“Shikamaru!” Ino thought frantically as she sped up ahead of Sai.  
They kept a fast pace until they reached a denser part of the forest. Until Ino saw Shikamaru come out of the forest with a grown stag.  
“Shikamaru!” Ino shouted.  
Sai added when they reached him, “We found you…”  
“Reinforcements huh? But you’re a little too late,” Shikamaru explained.  
Shocked, Ino stammered, “What? Shikamaru, you defeated a member of Akatsuki by yourself?”  
Then Sai commented, “You’re more impressive than I thought.”  
Shikamaru smirked slightly and then murmured, “I guess…”  
Then he returned the lighter he had in his hand back into his pouch and added, “This was something that I had to do myself no matter what.”  
Everyone was silent for a moment before Ino smiled at him sadly and then said, “I suppose so…” But then she suddenly punched his arm, hard.  
“Ow!” Shikamaru exclaimed.  
“That was for scaring me,” Ino explained.  
Shikamaru rubbed his arm in pain when Ino then instructed Sai, “Sai, close your eyes and look away.”  
Perplexed, Sai asked, “Why?”  
“Just do it,” Ino replied.  
Sai was confused but he obliged anyway by closing his eyes and turning around.  
Then she turned back to Shikamaru, brought her hands up to his face and then added, “And this is for not getting killed, Shika.”  
Then she brought him down for her to plant a kiss on his lips. He was pleasantly surprised so he relaxed into the kiss and returned the kiss as he wrapped his arms around her waist. After a few seconds, they pulled away from their brief but passionate kiss.  
“Whoa…” Shikamaru let out breathlessly.  
Ino teased him, “Did I actually leave you speechless, Shika?”  
Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he smirked. They pulled apart and then Ino let Sai know that he could turn back around again.  
“What’s happening with everyone else?” Shikamaru asked.  
Ino answered, “We ran straight here to help you so we don’t know; we should hurry back to them!”  
Shikamaru agreed as he pats the deer’s head briefly before taking off with them. But only after a few seconds of running, he suddenly fell forward to the ground.  
Ino then exclaimed in worry, “Shikamaru, are you okay?”  
She knelt down next to him and said, “I’ll heal you right now.”  
But Shikamaru objected, “This is nothing…”  
He let out exhausted breaths before adding, “I don’t want any more of my friends to get hurt…”  
He was about to get up before Ino stopped him and then she said, “I’m worried about them too, but you won’t be able to help them if you’re exhausted. So let me heal you as much as I can.”  
Shikamaru looked like he wanted to protest but then he relented by sitting up. Ino smiled at him and then started to heal him while she thought, “Everyone, please be okay.”  
Back with everyone else…  
Naruto shouted, “Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” Then two clones appeared on either side of him.  
Kakuzu murmured, “Kage Bunshin… I see, you’re the Kyuubi Jinchūriki.”  
Yamato asked Kakashi, “What is the situation and the enemy’s power?”  
“This guy has the power to split himself up. Those masks on his shoulders split from the torso. Each mask has a separate heart and moves independently. He originally had five hearts; he lost two and only has three now,” Kakashi answered.  
Confused, Yamato asked, “What do you mean?”  
Kakashi explained, “He’s been killed twice already; we have to kill him three more times to finish him off. Plus, he’s an intermediate distance fighter and can use multiple chakra natures.”  
Yamato thought, “No wonder you were having such a hard time.”  
The he shouted, “Naruto!”  
And then Naruto’s clones ran forward and one of them shouted, “I heard it!”  
Chouji shouted in alarm, “Naruto!”  
“It’s no use charging in recklessly!” Sakura added.  
The first clone closed in on Kakuzu, clapped his hands together and then yelled, “Fūton: Reppūshō!”  
Kakuzu easily dodged it but he didn’t account for the other clone throwing kunai at him that was enhanced with wind chakra and then he quickly dodged them as well. He noticed that after the avoided the kunai, they were imbedded into the tree behind him. Kakuzu stopped the other clone before commenting, “You’re going to have to do better than that.”  
But Naruto was thinking to himself, “Based on his attack speed and fighting style, I’ll need at least three clones to distract him.”  
Kakashi thought as he watched Naruto, “He gathered each clones’ experience and processed it…And based on that knowledge, he formed a simulation. His ability to use the Shadow clones has advanced.”  
Naruto breathed in deeply and then shouted again, “Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”  
This time, three had appeared next to him and then two of the clones came closer to Naruto and then started forming a Rasengan with wind nature chakra. The rotation of it was causing it to screech loudly.  
Kakuzu seemed to be overwhelmed with the power it seemed to display, he thought, “What is that jutsu? If I get hit with that… then I’m… definitely doomed.”  
The wind was swirling all around Naruto and his clones with a large shuriken-shaped technique.  
He shouted, “Fūton: Rasen Shuriken!”  
So he and his clones started moving toward Kakuzu and then they all sprinted forward. One clone jumped forward and threw wind-enhanced shuriken at him, causing him to dodge them but not without cutting a few tendrils and then two other clones were either side of Kakuzu but he caught the one above him and then used fire and wind to eliminate the others. But then Naruto came up behind Kakuzu and tried to hit him with the technique but it dissipated before he could use it.  
Then Naruto stepped back from Kakuzu was able to form hand seals and shouted, “Fūton: Daitoppa!”  
Since it was close range, Kakuzu had to jump back to avoid it. Naruto regrouped with the others and cursed, “Damn it!”  
“What happened? It didn’t hit,” Sakura asked.  
Chouji then added, “Since it was called ‘Rasen Shuriken’, I thought you would have to throw it. Do you really have to run in and hit him close?”  
Naruto grit his teeth but then he stepped forward and replied, “It was all I could do to get close enough to him. But let me try again.”  
Sakura objected, “You’re up against a member of Akatsuki! If you try again, he’d just dodge it!”  
“If he detects your diversion, we’re done for. Let’s attack him together.” Chouji added.  
Kakashi agreed with them, “That’s true; it’s five against one. There’s no need to take chances.”  
Kakuzu watched them as they discussed and he thought, “So, what’s their next move?”  
Naruto spoke up, “Kakashi-sensei… Do you remember what you told me when I was training? You said you believe that I’m the only shinobi who can surpass the Fourth Hokage.”  
“Naruto…” Kakashi thought in awe.  
Naruto continued, “I know that teamwork is important. I also know that this is a very risky path. Even so, I want to take this risk alone. If I can’t beat him, I’ll never be able to grow as a shinobi. So please, don’t take this path away from me.”  
Kakashi was silent for a moment until he asked, “Yamato, what do you think?”  
“Well, since you haven’t seen it yet; you haven’t seen how much Naruto has grown.” Yamato answered.  
Then Kakashi agreed, “All right then, go Naruto!”  
“Right,” Naruto replied as he tightened his hitai-ate.  
Then Kurama added, “Naruto, I can help you with it. The chakra cloak can protect you as well as help you throw it.”  
Naruto contemplated this suggestion and then nodded his head slightly while he stepped forward.  
But then Kakuzu let out a growl and the tendrils and they extended out further from his neck and his mouth, while at the same time, his arms reattached and sewn themselves together.  
Quickly, Naruto shouted, “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”  
Then they quickly formed the Rasen Shuriken again and the clones ran in front of him to distract Kakuzu. But Kakuzu expected this, so he jumped over the three clones and was going to attack Naruto directly. But just as he shot the tendrils at him, Naruto’s body was cloaked in red chakra, his eyes turned red-orange with slit-like pupils. His canine teeth grew into fangs and his whisker markings became more defined. The chakra cloak had given him the shape of a fox with three tails. The tails collided with Kakuzu’s tendrils, keeping them at bay.  
“What?!” Kakuzu shouted.  
Then the chakra split the tendrils apart, leaving Kakuzu wide open.  
Then Naruto used the chakra that enhanced his strength and threw it at him as he yelled, “Take this!”  
The Rasen Shuriken buzzed through the air and hit Kakuzu, sending him flying. The technique gave off a high pitched sound, and as it cut through, the technique had stirred up a big gust of wind, while it spun causing a dome of wind to envelop Kakuzu. The wind had kept attacking him with small pins of wind chakra that cut through his skin everywhere on his body. While it was commencing, the masks had been destroyed. When it was finished, Kakuzu fell into a crater that was created by the technique.  
In awe, Sakura whispered, “Amazing…”  
Kakashi turned to Naruto whose chakra cloak had dissipated and he was breathing heavily.  
Kakashi thought, “The number of attacks was so many that even my Sharingan couldn’t count them all. Naruto… you have truly… surpassed the Fourth.”  
Naruto looked over at them all, smiled and gave a thumb up and murmured, “I did it…”  
Then Naruto suddenly fell to his knees and then fell face forward to the ground.  
“Naruto!” Chouji shouted in worry.  
Then both he and Sakura ran to Naruto to help him. Sakura started to heal him and she commented, “Kakuzu may have bypassed the clones that were supposed to distract, I guess he didn’t even think of you activating Kurama’s chakra at all.”  
Chouji added, “You could almost be as smart as Shikamaru a little.”  
Naruto chuckled, “Don’t compare me to Shikamaru.”  
Kakashi watched his student catch his breath as he thought, “He truly has grown to the point where I may not have to teach him more; he’s really about as strong as me or maybe even stronger than me. But I know exactly who has this effect on him; the one person who pushes him to his limits… Isn’t that right, Sasuke?”  
Kakashi smiled at his student even if you can’t tell, and then he had resolved to train him further in anything they could cover that he’s lacking.  
Kakashi was brought out of his thoughts by Yamato, “Let’s go, Senpai.”  
Kakashi replied, “Right, there’s just one more think I have to do.”  
After Naruto was healed Yamato called out to the three teenagers, “Let’s get going everyone.”  
Sakura questioned, “Where’s Kakashi-sensei?”  
“Just taking care of some loose ends,” Yamato answered.  
Kakashi went into the crater where Kakuzu lay, weak and motionless but nonetheless still alive. He heard Kakuzu murmur weakly, “How can I be defeated by a bunch of brats?”  
Kakashi replied, “I suppose that we would look like kids to considering how old you are. But to us, you’re just a washed-up old man.” He prepared his Chidori and added, “The next generation will always surpass the old…” And then, Kakashi finished him off, for good this time.  
After they had met up with Shikamaru, Ino and Sai, they all took the trek home because of how exhausted everyone is. When they got back home, they reported back to Tsunade.  
Tsunade praised them, “Good job, everyone. But remember, there are still some members of Akatsuki out there. We must be diligent; don’t let your guard down.”  
She paused for a moment before continuing; “Now I order that you all take a few days off. Rest your bodies as well as your minds. You’re all dismissed.”  
Then with that finished, they all left the Hokage Tower. Kakashi and Yamato left while the others walked together back to their homes. Naruto left for Ichiraku’s to eat ramen, no surprise to anyone, and Sai went home because he was close to his house. This left Ino and team 10 to walk together. They were mostly silent until Sakura stated, “It’s all over,” while Chouji agreed.  
That was when Shikamaru interrupted the silence again, “Sorry, I’ll part with you guys here.”  
But then Sakura pointed out the direction of his house, “But your house is this way…”  
Shikamaru only replied, “I have something to do.”  
Then he turned around and walked back the way he came while Ino watched with a somber expression and then she excused herself as well and she took off after him.  
In the cemetery, Kurenai was standing before Asuma’s headstone.  
“Is it alright for you to be up and about?” Kurenai turned around and saw that it was Shikamaru speaking to her.  
He walked to the headstone, knelt down in front of it and then placed Asuma’s lighter at the base of it.  
Kurenai stated sadly, “Your shogi partner is gone… You were Asuma’s favorite student, so it will be lonely for you.”  
Shikamaru replied, “From precious things to silly things…he taught me so much. Shogi was one of them. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel lonely. But I’m no longer allowed to act like a kid, I can’t keep crying.”  
He paused before smiling and then continued, “I always complained about how troublesome things are, and because of that, I messed up a lot as a kid. And each time, Asuma was there to protect me. Maybe that’s why…although he was such an evasive and odd teacher, I thought that he was a really cool adult.”  
He stood up and then added, “That’s why…this time, it’s my turn.”  
He turned to look at Kurenai, at first she was confused but then she understood as she put her hand on her stomach.  
“When that child is born, it’ll be my turn to be the protective teacher…” he gave a bright smile and then said, “So I’ve got to become a really cool adult too.”  
Kurenai replied, “Thank you…”  
After that, Kurenai left the cemetery but Shikamaru stayed behind for a while. That was when Ino stood next to him.  
Ino asked quietly, “Are you okay?”  
Shikamaru didn’t answer for a seconds before he replied, “I will be.”  
She asked again, “Would you like company?”  
“Sure…” Shikamaru answered.  
Ino wordlessly took his hand in hers and leaned in close to him. Then Shikamaru laced their fingers together even if he didn’t realize he did. And then they both stood together in comfortable silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my tweaks in it.


	26. Ch. 25: First Date and Orochimaru's Demise

It has been two days since Kakuzu was killed and Hidan was contained. Ino was in the flower shop assisting the customers and seemed to be happy helping them. She just finished helping with an older gentleman when she heard another person come in.  
She greeted, “Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers, how can I…?”  
She saw that it was Shikamaru at the entrance and she smiled at him before saying, “Oh Shika, how can I help you today?”  
Shikamaru returned the smile before he answered, “Actually, I’m here to repeat my question from last time.”  
Ino knew what he was going to ask but she decided to tease him a bit, she asked coyly, “What question?”  
Shikamaru knew she was doing but he played along anyway, “You know what.”  
Ino asked, “Perhaps, you can ask again?”  
Shikamaru smirked at her attempt to look cute mostly because it was working.  
So then he asked, “Would you like to go out with me tomorrow evening at 7?”  
Ino smiled again and answered, “I would love to, Shika. What should I wear for it?”  
Shikamaru smiled as well and then answered, “Something formal.”  
Then he walked over to her until he was standing opposite Ino with the counter between them. He motioned for her to come a little closer and then Ino curiously leaned over the counter to know what he wanted. He leaned in closer as well until his forehead was touching hers and their lips were barely a millimeter apart.  
Ino closed her eyes to feel his lips again but she only heard him whisper, “See you tomorrow, Ino.”  
Then he pulled away and kissed her forehead instead and then walked out of the shop.  
When Ino realized what happened, she huffed slightly but she couldn’t prevent her rapidly beating heart and the blush on her cheeks. She sighed while tucking loose strands of her hair before she felt something in it. She carefully picked it out and saw that it was a flower; a gardenia. She was surprised because gardenias only grow on the outskirts of Konoha and the shop was currently waiting on a shipment for gardenias.  
She had briefly recalled a memory of her father giving her mother a bouquet of gardenias for her birthday. She had asked her father they meant and he had explained that the receiver of the flowers is being told that she is lovely. She smiled happily and placed the gardenia back in her hair again as an accessory. She didn’t even know if he knew its meaning but she didn’t care; it was so romantic. For the rest of the day in the shop, she couldn’t stop smiling.  
Elsewhere in the training grounds…  
Naruto was studying a few scrolls of fuinjutsu while his clones were working on different types of other wind techniques and they even are going over some water techniques as well. Kakashi was with another clone working on different strategies that had been used during previous wars and quizzing him through it to see if he remembered it. It was a sigh to behold; so many clones learning many things at once. It may not have looked like it but they had been out there since six in the morning and Kakashi was actually on time. Kakashi explained to Naruto that he had been neglectful as a teacher so he decided to make up for lost time by teaching him many things that he learned to Naruto and help him with many different subjects all at the same time. Kakashi was glad that Naruto decided to listen to the lesson on strategies; it shows him that he was willing to learn.  
Kakashi then said to the clone he was working with, “Good, you’re learning to plan ahead instead of planning in the process. Now dispel yourself and I want the original to go over taijutsu.”  
The clone replied, “Okay.” Then he dispelled himself and the real Naruto gained the memories of the clone.  
Then he murmured, “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.” Then he left the clone to continue with practicing his calligraphy; Kurama had informed Naruto that the Uzumaki clan was formidable in fuinjutsu and he wanted to get it right.  
Then Naruto had seen that Hinata was with Kakashi, he greeted her with a smile, “Hey Hinata. What are you doing here?”  
Hinata replied, “Hello Naruto-kun, Kakashi-sensei had asked me earlier this morning to come help you with training taijutsu as your sparring partner.”  
“Oh really? You don’t mind?” Naruto asked.  
Hinata shook her head and answered, “No, I don’t mind. I think we’ll help each other grow stronger.”  
Naruto smiled and then said, “Alright, let’s go.”  
They both got into their stances while Kakashi was observing and then he shouted, “Go!”  
Both young Chūnin sprinted towards each other and engaged in combat. While Naruto was taller than her, she was fast and precise. They both wouldn’t give each other the chance to get a hit. It wasn’t until Hinata found an opening and then struck him in the chest with an open palm. Naruto staggered a bit but then he smiled at her before attacking again.  
They kept at it until Naruto commented, “You have gotten stronger Hinata. But show me just how much.”  
“Okay…” Hinata replied before she suddenly jumped backwards and then she shouted, “Hakke Kūshō!”  
She threw her palm out and a stream of chakra flew towards Naruto that he had to dodge it. But then she suddenly close to him catching him off guard and then she shouted, “Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!”  
Then she proceeded to hit at his tenketsu, striking at his chakra points. That was the first time that Naruto had seen her use the same technique that Neji had done to him during his first Chūnin exam. But luckily, he knew how to counter it. He activated Kurama’s chakra and reopened his tenketsu. And then came at her more fiercely. But by the smiles on their faces, they were having fun. Kakashi had noticed throughout the spar that they have great chemistry and he knew that they were closer due to them hanging out together by chance; he saw them talking together. Then an idea crossed his mind and then he had a mischievous gleam in his visible eye.  
He was sitting down on the ground and then he subtly did a snake handsign, slammed his hand on the ground and then murmured, “Doton: Tsuchi Nami no Jutsu.”  
Then suddenly the ground was forming waves at the exact moment Naruto was charging forward for an attack. He didn’t know what happened before the waves in the ground caused him to lose his balance and trip over his own feet. He couldn’t stop himself; he fell forward and bumped into Hinata, which caused them both to fall over to the ground. While this was Kakashi’s intention, he didn’t quite expect the result of it.  
Naruto was a bit confused as he felt two things that were round and soft in his hands. He squeezed them but then he suddenly realized to his embarrassement and Hinata’s; he had his hands on Hinata’s breasts. This caused Hinata to blush profusely and when he realized what he was doing; his face turned a bright red.  
The he hastily got off of Hinata and exclaimed, “Hinata, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! I…”  
But he cut himself off by seeing that Hinata was unconscious was still blushing. He quickly went to Hinata, held her in his arms and tried to gently wake her up.  
He murmured, “She might hate me when she wakes up.”  
Then he heard Kakashi comment, “Naruto, I know that you were training with Jiraiya-sama for nearly three years but I never thought that you would be this bold towards a young lady like Hinata.”  
Naruto became flustered and blurted out, “I wasn’t trying anything! It was an accident!”  
Naruto continued to try to wake her up while Kakashi was smiling underneath his mask; proudly witnessing his handiwork. While Naruto was trying to wake Hinata up he had to tell Kurama to stop laughing at him.  
It was around one o’clock before Hinata woke up again; she realized that she was sitting at the base of a tree.  
“I’m glad that you’re awake,” Hinata turned to her right and Naruto was sitting beside her.  
She also saw that all of his clones had been dispelled and Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. Hinata blushed immediately because she had remembered what had occurred over an hour ago.  
Then she heard him say, “I’m really sorry about before; it was an accident. I tripped over my own feet and couldn’t stop myself in time. I’d understand if you would hate me for that. If you want to hit me or slap me…go ahead.”  
He faced Hinata while closing his eyes, expecting a hit to his face but nothing happened. He opened one eye and saw that she was smiling kindly.  
She replied, “I’m not going to slap you nor do I hate you, Naruto-kun. It was an accident, like you said. And I know that you’d never do anything like that on purpose. You are a good person, Naruto-kun.”  
For some unknown reason, Naruto blushed and had a strange fluttering in his chest but to him it wasn’t a bad feeling. He smiled back and replied, “You’re a good person too, Hinata. And you have gotten stronger too. Next time we should do this again, is that okay?”  
Hinata nodded her head and then answered, “That’s fine but it would have to be after Neji-ni-san trains with me. He had helped me train in taijutsu; he’s on a mission so he won’t be back until later.”  
“Great. Then would you like lunch, we could go somewhere else, any place you want,” Naruto proclaimed.  
Hinata asked, “Are you sure I’m not troubling you with that?”  
“It’s fine, besides I’m starving. Aren’t you?” Naruto asked.  
Hinata answered, “Well…a little.”  
Naruto got up grom the ground and then said, “Well, let’s get going.”  
He held out his hand to her for her to grab onto. She smiled and then she held his hand so he could help her up. Then they walked back into the village while Kakashi peeked from behind his book while he hid in a tree, displaying an eye-smile towards the two Chūnin before returning to his book.  
The Next Day…  
Ino had asked her mother if she could have the day off so that could find a new outfit for her date that evening. Of course, she couldn’t avoid her mother fast enough when she started teasing about her and Shikamaru. He had said that she had to dress formally so she hopes that she could find the right outfit for this date. Throughout the whole day, she went to every clothing store she’s ever been to. But after trying on so many different dresses and formal outfits, she hadn’t the one outfit that would be deemed “perfect” to her. It was already two in the afternoon before she felt like giving up. That was until she had happened to spot a dress on display through store front window. It was a black sleeveless dress that seemed to stop just above the knees and it seemed to be elegant enough for her. So she went in, tried it on and it fit her perfectly and she loved it. With her mind made up, she paid for it and then practically sprinted back to her house to get ready.  
Later that evening…  
Shikamaru was outside of the shop waiting for Ino to come out. He was wearing a black suit and his hair was loose; which was something rare for him to do. If he was honest with himself, he didn’t know the first thing about dating and he was extremely nervous. He really wants this date to go well, since it’s truly their first step to become more than friends; he can’t mess this up. Then her heard footsteps behind him and he turned around to see Ino; which had left him speechless.  
Ino was wearing her black dress with strappy black sandals. Her hair was styled so that it was wavy as it fell past her shoulders and down her back. And around her neck was a black choker with a red rose pendant; a gift for her birthday last year from him. She in turn was equally stunned; she had thought that he looked handsome.  
When he had snapped out of his stupor he cleared his throat and then said, “Hey Ino. You look…”  
He seemed to be struggling to find the right word to describe her. But then after seeing her smile up at him, he said, “Stunning…”  
Ino continued to smile and she blushed at his compliment until she replied, “Thank you Shika. You look very handsome tonight as well.”  
In response to her compliment, he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment and then mumbled, “Thanks…”  
Then he held his arm out for her to take which caused her to smile. She looped her arm through his; he relaxed a bit before he led the way to where he was taking her. They walked for a few minutes in the street until they ended up at a restaurant; one where Ino had wanted to go to but never had the chance. She was pleasantly surprised that she asked, “Shikamaru, we’re going here?”  
He nodded his head and answered, “I remembered that you had said that you wanted to come here. So I had made reservations yesterday and now we’re here.”  
Ino then affectionately squeezed his arm before they walked into the restaurant. The waiter escorted them to an assigned table and then they took their seats. As they were waiting for their food, Ino went into an animated discussion about what she was training with her father as of late and what she does at the hospital while Shikamaru would just listen and add his own thoughts. Then it came to the point where she mentioned Kurenai.  
She said, “At the hospital, I had seen Kurenai-sensei, I had wanted to say hi but she walked out before I could catch her. I wondered if she was alright.” She paused to take a bite out of her food, when she saw that Shikamaru was in deep thought.  
She gently called out to him, “Shikamaru, are you okay?”  
He brought his eyes to look up at her quickly and then replied, “Yeah, I’m alright, sorry. I was just thinking about what you said about Kurenai. She’s not sick or anything; it’s something much more important.”  
Ino was curious but she didn’t ask because it wasn’t really her business.  
But then Shikamaru asked, “Can I tell you something, Ino?”  
Ino nodded her head as she was intrigued on what he was going to say so she listened closely.  
Shikamaru kept eye contact and then said to her, “The reason that Kurenai-sensei was in the hospital is because she is pregnant.”  
Ino gasped in shock and asked, “She is? Then the father is…?”  
Shikamaru nodded his head and answered her unfinished question, “Yes, it’s Asuma’s.”  
Ino was speechless for a few seconds before Shikamaru spoke again, “Asuma had told me before he died, he had asked me to take care of his child. It’s a big thing to ask of someone, to watch their child and help take care of him or her. I said I’d be the child’s teacher but…”  
Ino saw that he looked somber as he trailed his sentence and then she smiled sadly while she slid her hand across the table and placed it on top of his to hold it.  
Shikamaru looked up at her and then she said to him, “You will be a great teacher to the baby. You’re intelligent, brave, you care about your friends and you always have been great at teaching others. I believe you can do it.”  
She gave him a reassuring smile and then he gave one in return.  
He squeezed her hand and replied, “Thanks Ino, I’m glad that I have you to support me.”  
Ino replied, “I’ll always support you, Shika, and I’ll help you in anyway I can.”  
Then she teased, “I mean how will you help take care of a baby without me to guide you? You’d be totally helpless with a baby.”  
The she heard him laugh, not loudly but it was a bit surprising because he usually just chuckles.  
When he calmed down, he replied, “You’re probably right about that, I think I’d be lost on how to even hold a baby.”  
Ino smiled and then proclaimed, “I’m glad that I was able to cheer you up a little; I know that its been hard for you. If you need to talk to someone, you know that you can always talk to me.”  
Shikamaru agreed, “I know that Ino and I appreciate it; I really do.”  
They smiled at each other and they continued to eat their dinner and they talked more. Soon afterwards, Shikamaru suggested that they walk around the village. So then they walked around the village in comfortable silence and then Ino softly took Shikamaru’s hand and held it until Shikamaru held it firmly. They continued to walk hand-in-hand through the village until they stopped at a park bench and sat on it.  
Ino saw that it was a beautiful night; the moon was full, the stars were twinkling brightly and it was peaceful all around. Ino glanced at Shikamaru and he was relaxed as well.  
Ino looks up at the moon and comments, “The moon looks beautiful tonight.”  
Shikamaru looked at her noticed that the moonlight was shining on her, making her appear angelic.  
He blushed before murmuring, “Yeah, you do…”  
Ino heard what he had said and she blushed as well at his sudden compliment and she also saw that he looked good in the light as well. She smiled up at him and then leaned into Shikamaru, placing her head in the crook of his neck. He initially flinched in surprise but then he slowly relaxed and then he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and placed his head on top of hers. They sat there in content with each other’s presence and did her favorite activity together; star-gazing.  
Soon, Shikamaru and Ino walked towards Ino’s home at the flower shop and they stopped in front of the entrance holding each other’s hand.  
Ino turned to him and said, “I had a wonderful time Shika; it was amazing that you took me to the restaurant.”  
Shikamaru half-smiled and then asked playfully, “Amazing enough for another date?”  
Ino then coyly answered, “Maybe. Aren’t boyfriends supposed to continue with dates?”  
Shikamaru looked surprised, he asked, “I’m your boyfriend?”  
Ino gently let go of his hand and then planted a short, sweet kiss on his lips before answering, “With how many kisses we’ve shared before this date, yes, I’d say you’re my boyfriend.”  
Shikamaru smirked before suddenly bringing her closer to him with one of his hands around her waist and one at the back of her neck. Ino laughed softly before leaning upwards and then he brought their lips together in a fiery, passionate kiss. When he released her, she felt weak-kneed and breathless. Then they both smiled and laughed and he let go of her. She slowly pulled her hand out of his grip and then she whispered, “Good night, Shikamaru.”  
He smiled at her and repeated the sentiment, “Good night, Ino.”  
Ino went through the entryway of the shop, opened the door to her house that was located behind the shop, let herself in and then softly closed the door. She had her back against it and then she stared up at the ceiling in a happy daze and she couldn’t stop smiling; she really did have a great time.  
She dreamily called out, “I’m home…”  
Ino’s mother was in the kitchen finishing up some cleaning and she saw that her daughter was happy.  
She replied, “Welcome back, Ino; you seem happy.”  
And then she asked, “Did your date with Shikamaru-kun go well?”  
Ino only nodded before saying, “Good night, Mom…”  
She smiled as she watched her daughter go up the stairs to her room and thought, “She must’ve had a nice date to be so quiet; she would usually talk with me for hours if something had interested her.”  
At the same time, Shikamaru was walking home and he had a similar smile on his face. He thought to himself, “It was a nice date.”  
He stared up at the sky and then he suddenly thought, “But now I have to think of other activities for our other dates.”  
But then he cracked another smile that showed his teeth before proclaiming aloud, “How troublesome…”  
The next day somewhere underground…  
Orochimaru was sitting up in his bed; trying to endure through the pain he’s currently feeling because he had reached his limit on his current body. Kabuto had stepped out to prepare stronger medication for him. He was currently wheezing and coughing up blood.  
When suddenly, a bright, blue-white blade had gone through the door and then pierced Orochimaru’s wrists as he tried to somewhat block it.  
He thought, “The nature of this chakra… but I’ve never seen this type of change in chakra form before.”  
He called out, “Who’s there?”  
As an answer, the door was sliced to bits revealing Sasuke with his sword in his right hand and the chakra blade in his left hand.  
Orochimaru proclaimed, “I knew that you would come for me.”  
Sasuke replied, “I have nothing more to learn from you. Even here before you, I think I can become heartless.”  
The curse mark was partially covering his face from his neck and his Sharingan was activated. He stepped into the room, while slowly pushing the blade through Orochimaru’s wrists and it caused him to move it away from his head.  
Sasuke stated, “Orochimaru, you are weaker than me. There’s no longer any need for me to give you my body.”  
Orochimaru vehemently rebutted, “You have some nerve; you’re still an Uchiha fledgling!”  
Sasuke chuckled slightly before saying, “If I hadn’t been a fledging, you would’ve had no chance at me, right? You were observing me to appraise tis ‘fledging’ in the forest during the Chūnin Exams, so you had put dibs on me. You thought that you had me bound to you with this curse mark.”  
He paused for a few seconds before adding, “I want revenge; I was ready to give my body if it meant I could attain my goal. You just wanted the Sharingan, right? But Itachi didn’t work out; that’s why you came after me. Isn’t that right, you who they called a genius and became a Sannin? But in the end, you turned out to be what they call on the streets, ‘just an ordinary prodigy.’ You couldn’t even live up to the Uchiha name, much less surpass it. Even the best prodigy is only ordinary against the Uchiha name. What you did… disgustingly trying to approach the powers of the Uchiha by drowning yourself in drugs and trying to overcome your body… It seems so shameless and comical to me, who possesses that name.”  
Then he glared at him before stating, “And what’s more, I don’t like the way you do things. You hopped from one hideout to another one conducting experiments, toying with countless lives… Saying you were trying to unravel the mysteries of this world, you continued to toy with others for your own stupid and selfish reasons.”  
He tensed his shoulders as he had a brief flashback of the night of the Uchiha Massacre and of his brother.  
He glared more harshly before exclaiming, “You make me sick!”  
Then he jumped onto the bed and was about to strike him down, but then something had come out his mouth. Sasuke turned around and saw a grotesque image of Orochimaru’s head on a white body of a snake with it being made of snakes.  
Sasuke then said, “A snake with white scales; so that is your true form.”  
He chuckled, “You conducted experiment after experiment so you could move on body to the next and that’s how you ended up?”  
Orochimaru growled, “Now Sasuke-kun, give me your body!”  
He had lunged his head forward and struck at Sasuke but he dodged it. The snakes that make up his body had detached themselves to attack him as well but he just sliced their heads off. This continued until he stepped back and then fully activated the curse mark. This caused his skin to turn a light gray, his hair had turned a pale gray, the sclerae of his eyes turned black and black cross-like marking appeared in the middle of his face.  
The snakes were ensnaring him as he said, “A snake that slithers on the ground can only dream of flying through the air. You wanted it so badly that you went after the fledgling in the nest. But then you became targeted as prey instead…”  
Suddenly the snakes were all cut apart, leaving Sasuke standing with appendages similar to wings protruding from his back.  
He continued, “By the eyes of a hawk soaring high above the sky.”  
Orochimaru then shouted in fury, “Sasuke!”  
Soon afterwards however, Sasuke was standing beside a cut-up snake body that lied in it’s own blood completely motionless. This was the sight that Kabuto came upon and realized that Orochimaru was dead. Sasuke had walked out of the room and went past him as if he didn’t just kill an S-class missing shinobi And then he turned and went along the tunnel.  
But then, without turning his head, he answered Kabuto’s unasked question, “Orochimaru is dead; I merely just absorbed all that he was.”  
After that, he continued to walk down the tunnel and had walked out of the hideout. This was Orochimaru’s demise while Kabuto could only look on in shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my own tweaks in it.


	27. Ch. 26: The Search for Itachi Uchiha

After their first date, Ino and Shikamaru have spent a lot of time together the past few days. Whenever they weren’t busy with their own agendas and training, they find time to spend together either just cloud watching or star-gazing. And in that span of time they had at least gone on two more dates. While they didn’t outright exclaim the nature of their relationship to their friends, they were content with how things were. Ocasionally, they would hold hands under the table if they were having lunch with their best friends, Chouji and Sakura.  
Ino could pretty much say that she has been happy with her boyfriend. They grew closer to the point where they try to see each other every other day for no special reason. It had made her forget her own worries about her missing teammate. That is until she was called into Tsunade’s office along with Naruto. Tsunade was in her office with Jiraiya and Shizune.  
Naruto was the first to ask, “So, Tsunade-obaa-chan, why did you call me and Ino here?”  
She didn’t answer right away but then she replied, “I called you two here because there has been news spreading.”  
She paused before continuing, “Orochimaru…is dead.”  
This news shocked them both immensely; they had never expected something like that.  
She added, “And it seems that the one to kill him was Sasuke Uchiha.”  
Ino was overwhelmed; her own teammate killed an S-class missing nin and he didn’t become a vessel for Orochimaru after all.  
Naruto exclaimed, “Woah, I knew he wouldn’t let let himself be Orochimaru’s vessel.”  
He paused before asking apprehensively, “Then, would Sasuke return to the village?”  
Tsunade and Jiraiya were silent but then Jiraiya answered, “I don’t think so.”  
Naruto noticeably flinched but then remained calm. He asked, “He’s still after Itachi, right?”  
Ino glanced over at him as she also came to that conclusion.  
Jiraiya confirmed his question, “Sasuke is still possessed by his desire for revenge. He intends to approach the Akatsuki in order to kill Itachi.”  
Naruto cursed, “Damn it!”  
Naruto then calmed down a bit before exclaiming, “Then we should get going. Operation: ‘Track Akatsuki’ is still ongoing isn’t it?”  
Tsunade answered, “Yes.”  
Naruto continued, “If we hunt down Itachi first, we’ll definitely run into Sasuke eventually. So our target is Itachi Uchiha.”  
Tsunade mused, “We target Itachi, a member of the Akatsuki who has the highest chance of leading us to Sasuke… I can see the logic in that.”  
Ino inputted, “If we’re able to take just one of the Akatsuki into custody, Ibiki-san can get information about Itachi out of him.”  
“I’ve already issued an order to all teams to capture and transport them here.” Tsunade replied.  
“That will probably be very difficult…” a voice said.  
They turned towards the door and Naruto mumurred, “Kakashi-Sensei…”  
Kakashi added, “We won’t be able to make them talk so easily. Even those we’ve already encountered were far too dangerous and we couldn’t even think about bringing them into custody.”  
Naruto interrupted, “Then what can we do?”  
“Well, until we come across Itachi, I don’t think we have any choice but to be very patient and search.” Kakashi answered. Naruto grit his teeth while Ino looked a bit anxious.  
Jiraiya then spoke up, “Pursue Itachi in order to meet up with Sasuke, huh? Say we find Itachi, what next?”  
After a pause, Kakashi answered, “About that… I have an idea. Can you spare me some time?”  
After that conversation, they were dimissed and Ino had gone to wandering around aimlessly, lost in thought.  
She couldn’t help but wonder, “Finding Iatchi…that will be difficult to do. And also…”  
She recalled when she had encountered Sasuke and that he was able to forcibly eject her out of his mind.  
“If Sasuke was able to do that… what chance would I… or any of us have against Itachi?” She looked down in worry when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and found Shikamaru standing behind her.  
“Shikamaru, hi…” Ino greeted him half-heartedly.  
He looked at her in concern before asking, “Did something happen, Ino?”  
Knowing she can’t lie to him, she answered, “It’s about Sasuke…”  
Shikamaru frowned but then asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”  
Ino agreed silently by nodding her head an soon they were at Shikamaru’s favorite cloud-watching spot on the roof. They sat down and then Shikamaru waited patiently for her to start. Soon, she explained the whole ordeal with Sasuke and how he was able to kill Orochimaru of all people and that they are planning to search for Itachi before Sasuke finds him.  
“And now we’re on stand-by until we can go pursue Itachi,” Ino finished her story.  
Shikamaru furrowed his brow in deep thought and then voiced them, “So to get to Sasuke, you all plan to catch Itachi, an S-class missing nin, with superior Sharingan powers that had caused Kakashi-sensei to be bed-ridden for two weeks at most and his target is most likely Naruto since he failed to obtain him three years ago…”  
Ino knows he just pointing out the facts of the matter, not completely shooting down the plan. Then he opened his eyes, looked at her and then spoke again, “Does Kakashi have an idea on who to take?”  
“He’s working on it right now and I just have to wait for them to call me to get going,” Ino answered.  
Shikamaru sighed and she immediately realized what he wanted to do; she aked, “Did you want to be a part of this mission?”  
Shikamaru looked over at her again; shocked that she saw right through him and then he groaned, “Troublesome woman, how did you know?”  
Ino laughed amusedly and then answered in a teasing manner, “You should know by now that I can know what you are thinking, Shika.”  
He rolled his eyes but he admitted, “Okay, I want to go not because of finding Sasuke, but…”  
He paused before continuing, “But to protect Naruto…and especially you.”  
Ino smiled wryly and then gently held his hand, replying, “Shikamaru, that is very noble and sweet of you. But you know that as shinobi, we can’t conduct a mission because of our feelings for each other…”  
He mumbled, “I know that…” He squeezed her hand in return, “But still…”  
Ino smiled and then leaned in to kiss his cheek. At that, he cracked a smile and gazed at her again.  
Ino assured him, “I’ll be fine, Shikamaru, I promise.”  
“Okay…” Shikamaru mumbled, and then he cupped her cheek before leaning in to kiss her; she met him halfway.  
Ino noticed that he was still himself in public; calm and reserved, but when they were alone like this, he gained an affectionate side; showing it only to her. She didn’t mind that; she enjoyed these moments with him.  
They broke away from the sweet kiss and smiled at each other before she leaned her head against his shoulder and sat in comfortable silence.  
Later, it began to rain, and just outside the gate…  
Tsunade commented, “I see, you’ve put a lot of thought into it, Kakashi.”  
Two teams were assembled together, Team Kakashi and Team Kurenai, with Yamato acting as leader for Team Kakashi and Kakashi replacing Kurenai.  
Kakashi replied, “I thought that two teams working together would be ideal. If our targets are few in number, namely one or two, having more than three squads will make us too easy to detect as well as interfere with the chain of command. And it will end up hindering our mobility.”  
Jiraiya inputted, “Restraining the enemy requires much more technique than mere killing. In coordinating the squads, it would be wise to choose members who are accustomed to working together.”  
Tsunade added, “Well, this is the best plan for now.”  
Kakashi bowed his head and then he said, “Thank you. We’re about ready to set out but I don’t like this weather.”  
As Ino listened, she subconsciously felt someone else’s chakra. So she turned towards the chakra and then she saw Shikamaru who had hidden himself from sight. Shikamaru waved at her and then seemed to say “be careful” through the look in is eyes.  
Ino smiled softly at him and then waved back while nodding her head.  
Naruto exclaimed, “Alright! Let’s go!”  
Then Kiba amusedly commented, “The rain is perfect for cooling off someone so fired up.”  
And then Tsunade proclaimed, “I’m issuing the order for the mission to locate and detain Itachi Uchiha! All of you be extremely cautious and carry out your duties!”  
All of them replied, “Right!” And then they set off to carry out their mission: Capture Itachi Uchiha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, it only has my tweaks in it.


	28. Chapter 27: Encounter of an Old Foe

Later when the rain cleared up, the group landed on a rooftop quietly.  
Kakashi spoke first, “Starting now, our main target is Itachi Uchiha. We capture him and take him into custody.”  
The group agreed and then Kakashi continued, “Akatsuki’s goal is to gather Biju; it is believed that they already have the Sanbi. According to Jiraiya-sama, it is possible that they had infiltrated the Land of Fire to target Naruto. Itachi in particular is originally from Konoha; three years ago he had attempted to take Naruto because of his status.”  
Naruto looked off to the side at that statement; he could never forget the calm, cold, glare from his eyes when he first encountered Itachi all those years ago. It was also the moment on just how hellbent Sasuke was about his revenge.  
His thoughts were interrupted when Ino interjected, “So if that is the case, he might come to Konoha as well as Sasuke, who is after his brother.”  
Naruto gave a subtle, determined glare and promised himself “I’ll catch up to Sasuke no matter what.”  
Kakashi spoke again, “Let’s go over the plan.Using this building as the central point, we will search in all four directions for five kilometers.”  
Ino interrupted, “Five kilometers? Our radios would be out of range and we’ll be too far apart from each other; it’s too dangerous.”  
Kakashi then stopped her proclaimed, “Just watch…”  
He weaved through hand seals and then placed his hand to the ground. Smoke had suddenly appeared and then when it blew away, a pack ofninja hounds appeared.  
Pakkun exclaimed, “Our voices travel even farther than the radios and our noses can instantly sniff out danger; we’ll protect you.”  
Then Kakashi explained further, “Let’s go over the team formations. This time there will be two ninja hounds assigned to each member.”  
Two dogs each had gone ahead and stood by the sides of Ino, Shino and Sai to start with.  
Naruto then asked, “What about me?”  
Kakashi answered, “Since you’re the Jinchuriki they are targeting; you will be teamed up with Yamato and Hinata.”  
Then Pakkun added, “Along with Big Bark Bull.”  
Naruto turned to Hinata as she said, “Let’s work together, Naruto-kun.”  
Naruto smiled at her and replied, “Yeah.”  
Finally, Kakashi gave the conclusion of the plan, “And being ninja hound users; Kiba and I will have one dog.”  
Then he instructed, “Listen everyone, you will track Itachi and Sasuke’s scents. If you find either of them, verify their location and then return to this spot. Especially you, Naruto, don’t go running off by yourself.” Naruto nodded his head in understanding.  
Kakashi then declared, “All right, let’s head out! Go!”  
All at the same time, they scattered in every direction, beginning the mission.  
While at the same time Sasuke was with three other people and he told them, “Juugo, Suigetsu, Karin you all go and gather information about Akatsuki.”  
“Alright, I’ll get going,” Suigetsu, a white-haired young man declared.  
While Juugo, a tall young man with orange hair, mumbled, “Itachi Uchiha, huh? I hope we can find him.”  
And then they both took off in different directions, although Karin, a red-haired girl, had other ideas.  
She latched herself onto Sasuke and squealed, “Sasuke, I’ll stay with you…”  
He cut her off , “You too, get going.”  
She scoffed before leaving as well.

Meanwhile with Ino…  
She concentrated while walking, hoping to catch some trace of Sasuke or Itachi.  
One of the dogs named Bisuke spoke up, “If you don’t wipe that solemn look on your face, you’ll scare off the boys.”  
Ino abruptly glared down at him and inquired, “What?”  
He continued, “The more you chase, the further they run away. You’re a female that keeps on pushing aren’t you? Why don’t you try pulling away at least once?”  
Ino retaliated, “How ridiculous!”  
And then she murmured, “Sasuke is someone I care about… but I’m already with someone else.”  
Shiba chastised his comrade, “Hey now, stop being so rude.”  
Bisuke scoffed while Ino added, “I only want Sasuke to know how we all feel. Everyone is waiting for Sasuke to come home; Sakura especially.”  
Then Bisuke exclaimed, “Fine, then why don’t I try sniffing?”  
He lowered his nose close to the ground and sniffed; he flinched in shock.  
“What is it?” Ino inquired.  
He answered, “I caught Sasuke’s scent.”  
Ino’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open in shock.  
They had continued on, following the scent into a small village, watching for any sign of Sasuke.  
Ino looked down at Bisuke asking, “Anything yet?”  
“It’s faint, but it is steadily getting closer…” Bisuke replied.  
Ino kept a slow pace, looking all around at the different residents of the village for Sasuke but she couldn’t see him. She tried to search for his chrakra signature to see if maybe he was in disguise; no such luck.  
Shiba whispered, “Ino-chan, do you see Sasuke anywhere?”  
Ino searched around once more but as they kept walking, she still couldn’t find him. Coming the opposite direction, Karin was walking towards Ino and the pair of dogs.  
But as they passed each other, Shiba suddenly proclaimed, “No good, the scent is getting further away.”  
Ino furrowed her brow in frustration; she also couldn’t sense him either. She briefly noticed a small occurrence of chakra but it wasn’t strong enough to be Sasuke’s so she ignored it.

Meanwhile…  
Naruto’s group was walking as they searched for Itachi and Sasuke.  
Until Yamato suddenly whispered, “Naruto, Hinata, you feel that?”  
“Yes…” Hinata answered and Naruto added, “Yeah…”  
Then Yamato threw some shuriken towards the person behind them.  
A voice spoke, “So, you have sensed me and you’ve grown, Naruto-kun…”  
The figure revealed himself, he wore a purple cloak with half of his face hidden. He revealed himself to be…  
“Kabuto Yakushi. You’ve got guts approaching us by yourself, ” Yamato exclaimed.  
He responded, “I wanted to have a chat with Naruto-kun.”  
“You’re not getting away this time; we’re taking you in,” Yamato objected.  
Then Naruto shouted, “Hey Kabuto! Where is Sasuke?!”  
Kabuto chuckled, “Still hung up on him, are you?”  
“Is it true that Sasuke killed Orochimaru?” Naruto asked warily.  
Kabuto didn’t respond right away but then he answered, “Yes… it’s true.”  
Naruto glared at him, he hasn’t seen Kabuto in years but he believed that he was still the same cunning shinobi he always was.  
Then Kabuto spoke again, “More importantly, I have a present for you, Naruto-kun… ”  
From his cloak, Kabuto pulled out a small book and handed it out towards him.  
Naruto looked at the book in confusion, he asked, “What’s that book for?”  
“It has information that our organization has gathered regarding Akatsuki; it’s yours. You can have it, Naruto-kun.”  
They were perplexed but then Yamato interjected, “Now that Orochimaru is dead… Are you trying to negociate with us?”  
Kabuto rebutted, “No. I don’t’ think it would be that easy to negociate with something like this…especially with Konoha.”  
Yamato asked, “Then why? Unlike Orochimaru, the Akatsuki isn’t after you.”  
“It’s a simple gift to Naruto-kun; a token of my gratitude. Plus, the Akatsuki are after you,” Kabuto explained.  
Naruto watched him in confusion, “Gratitude?”  
Kabuto continued, “After Orochimaru-sama died, I lost sense of who I was. I never knew who my parents were or what my homeland was. The enemy found me and from the time I was young, I moved around the lands and the villages as a spy. Lands and villages didn’t mean much to me. That is, until I began serving Orochimaru-sama, but now he’s gone too.”  
He tossed the book until it landed at Naruto’s feet. He added, “Just who am I? The agony of not having and identity… You can understand, can’t you, Naruto-kun?” Naruto didn’t say anything but he continued to listen.  
Kabuto chuckled, and then said, “Are you Naruto Uzumaki or are you the Kyuubi? In the past, you were shunned and regarded with loathing. You must have questioned yourself about who you really are. However, you had faith in your strength and told yourself that you were Naruto Uzumaki… and you boldly overcame their views of the Kyuubi…”  
Hinata whispered to Yamato, “What does he intend to do with Naruto-kun?”  
Yamato only replied, “I can’t figure out his motives…”  
Kabuto kept speaking to Naruto, “And that’s why you are sure of your identity and you found friends who accept you. But instead of overcoming Orochimaru-sama, I still clung to his power. I’m really able to understand how you feel now. You made me realize… that I want to be like you.”  
After he said this, he pushed the hood of his cloak off of his head and then took off his glasses.  
“So now…” Kabuto slowly turned his head to face them again. Only, as he turned, he revealed to them that a part of his face was pale-white and his left eye was yellow with purple markings around it. Each of them had a horrified expression on their faces due to this transformation.  
With a crazed look in his eyes and a malicious grin on his face, he finished his explanation, “I’m going to surpass Orochimaru-sama whom I absorbed, and discover a new, stronger self.”  
“I’ll find my new self, and you have given me a hint to finding it. That’s why I’m grateful, Naruto-kun. Orochimaru-sama is the symbol of reincarnation. He continues to live on inside me, as an existence that I must overcome.” Kabuto explained further.  
Naruto inquired, “Took into your body?”  
“It was just a small segment of Orochimaru-sama’s corpse after Sasuke killed him which I transplanted into my own body,” He rolled up his left sleeve to reveal his white arm that had a scaly appearance.  
“But his life-force is amazing, it’s steadily trying to take over my body.” Kabuto chortled.  
Yamato murmured, “How disturbing…”  
Hinata then used her byakugan to see exactly what he was talking about. She looked on in shock as she thought, “A third of his body has already been taken over…”  
Kabuto shouted, “But I have been fiercely resisting this takeover! I can feel this part of me that’s trying to overpower Orochimaru-sama!”  
The air was tense and no one said a word, only the sound of the wind blowing through.  
“Is that all you wanted to say?” Naruto commented. Kabuto said nothing.  
Then Naruto scoffed, “Well then, give it everything you’ve got! In a cell in Konoha!”  
He sprinted forward and attacked while Kabuto blocked each strike with precision. But then Yamato came up from behind Kabuto and had used his wood to trap him.  
Hinata yelled, “Behind you!”  
Naruto and Yamato turned to see that Kabuto had escaped and was laughing.  
Naruto cursed, “Damn it!”  
Kabuto then exclaimed, “When I’m able to control Orochimaru-sama’s power, I will fight you again, Naruto-kun. But you come later. First, it will be Sasuke-kun who brought down Orochimaru-sama.”  
Naruto shouted at him, “What are you going to do to Sasuke?!”  
Kabuto murmured while he weaved a sign, “Until we meet again…”  
They watched Kabuto as he dissolved away, leaving them with a sense of forboding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does. I just added my own tweaks to it.   
> I have finally gotten the motivation to continue my stories after so long. For those who are following my stories, I deeply apologize for the the long delay for new chapters. My life had gotten hectic and I put those as my first priorities but that doesn't mean I will give up on these stories. I will eventually finish them before moving onto new projects. There will be planned one-shots here and there about my favorite couples soon. So please, if you liked the chapter, please feel free to leave a review. Thank you for your patience and I will keep my resolution on updating constantly.

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally posted in Fanfiction.net and whoever is following it I'm posting it here too. Hope you like it. It was originally a collaboration with an author called DistantSong but she said that I could keep it. I try to keep it updated when I have time. Hope you enjoy.


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